


Unexpected Turns

by Kkirchmann21



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alcohol, Angst, BAMF Peter Parker, BAMF Tony Stark, Blackmail, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Bonding, Fluff, Heartbreak, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Tony Stark, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Irondad, Jealous Tony Stark, Kidnapped Peter Parker, Love, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Parent Tony Stark, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Revenge, Sassy Peter Parker, Scared Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Trouble, Underage Drinking, Violence, drugged
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:27:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 66,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22547764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kkirchmann21/pseuds/Kkirchmann21
Summary: Peter Parker creates a personal help device and starts up a Stark Internship. Tony Stark himself is receiving anonymous threats and is trying to keep his attention on the newest interns. While Tony grows a strong liking to Peter, the threats increasingly gets worse and many things start escalate.The bond and trust between the two grow into a family like relationship, but the danger surrounding them is getting to a point where no one may be safe.
Relationships: Betty Brant/Ned Leeds, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 52
Kudos: 112





	1. Chapter One: Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> Tags and Characters will be added/updated as the story continues.
> 
> This is my first MCU story I ever written and I hope you all like it! I want to give the biggest thanks you Lansfics7. I reached out and they took the time to help me and I h=cannot thank them enough for their advice. Thanks you Lansfics7!!!
> 
> Please comment and let me know what you think of the story.

When Peter was first handed the form to attend the day field trip to the famous Stark Industries, he could barely believe it. That night he showed his Aunt May the paper and asked her about the trip. 

“It’s a field trip to Stark Industries May. I have to go.” Peter laid the pen and paper in front of her.

May gave him a look and took the paper. “Tony Stark the billionaire.” She started to sign the sheet. “I don’t trust that man. He has had a sketchy background.”

“May, I’m not asking you to trust him. This is a one time opportunity, not anyone can just waltz into Stark Industries.”

She handed the signed sheet to her nephew. “It’s fine, I bet it’ll be a wonderful learning opportunity. If you happen to meet the man make sure you get a photo with him. Like you said, once in a lifetime opportunity.”

“Thanks May.” Peter kissed her on the cheek and went into his bedroom and put the sheet in his backpack. “Alright, homework is done and May is going to bed. Now time to get a little Spidermanning through.” He put on his excuse for a suit and jumped out the window webbing his way through the city.

Peter swung, building to building, letting himself fly freely in the air. As he hit the low of a swing he heard a ringing start and abruptly stop. Spiderman stopped himself and went towards the sound. “That sounded like a security alarm. One that probably shouldn't be going off this late at night."

Peter found himself in front of a high-end jewelry store. “These guys must be amateurs. First they trip the alarm, second, they pick the most cliche place to rob… Well, better get to work.”

Spiderman stuck himself to the wall and placed himself above the door and politely knocks on the door. There is some light commotion inside before a man with a gun opens it up weapon ready. “I’ll take that!” Peter quickly webs the gun from his hand. Then he grabbed the top frame of the door and swings himself down kicking the robber in the chest.

After he landed in the store, three other heads looked at him. “Hey guys. What's up!?” 

Guns quickly rise up and start firing. Peter quickly dodges the bullets racing toward him. “Woah, that was close. Let me take care of that for ya.” He stretched out his arm and shot web fluid, hitting the man’s weapon. 

Before Spiderman could react to his senses' warning, a boot smashed into the small of his back. He crashed into one of the store counters. “Oof, that one hurt.” Peter was attempting stand up and and counter when a more than familiar clicking sound rang out beside his ear. 

The man holding the gun to Peter's head only sneered before speaking. “I wouldn’t try anything if I were you.” He pressed the gun to the boy's head. “Now sit quietly while we finish up and we will have no problems.”

“Sorry, but sitting around and doing nothing was not listed in my job description.” With great speed Peter grabbed the arm of the man holding the gun and pointed the weapon to the ground. He kicked him in the jaw knocking out the robber. 

“Alright, I got to go to bed soon so let’s finish this up.” Within seconds Spiderman, or Peter, had successfully webbed the robber and called the cops. Then the sweat suit vigilante went home and got his much needed sleep.

\-----

The bus ride there was only 40 minutes. “Oh my gosh! What if we get the chance to see or even meet Tony Stark!” Ned raised his voice in the seat they shared. The bus came to a stop and Peter got up. “Ned, I highly doubt that the richest man in the world will have time for a couple of high school students.”

Quickly Peter figured out that he was indeed correct, but as they entered, they were introduced by the CEO of the company, Pepper Potts. “Hello Midtown freshmen! Mr. Stark will not be joining us today due to schedule conflicts. Before we start the tour I will need you all to form a single file line and slowly go through security. This is just a precaution we all need to follow so please keep the complaints to a minimum.” 

After the class got through the security checks without any problems Peter and Ned were in the back of the group as Pepper led their class to multiple rooms. They first went to Tony Stark’s personal office, obviously not allowed to go in, but it was pretty cool to look at. They were shown to the labs and press conference rooms. Then they went up onto one of the higher floors. The kids were escorted into a massive lounge that sported a bar, black leather couches, hard wood floors, a super soft rug, and a 72’ flat screen T.V.

Mrs. Potts spoke up. “This is the lounge exclusively for the higher-ups in the company. The only other people usually allowed in here are the Avengers.”

Peter looked around.“This is amazing. I don’t think I can comprehend how someone can manage to afford all of this.” Peter marveled at the room. Everything was so new-looking and it smelled marvelous. In the corner of his vision he could see an essential oil diffuser. “That explains the calming smell.” Peter wanted to sit down and fall asleep. He put his hand on the leather of one of the couches. “So genuine, I can’t believe the Avengers hang out here.” He stares at the leather. “This couch probably cost more than our apartment.” 

“Now don’t embarrass yourself by getting all lovey dovey with it.” MJ said as she watched him. The boy slightly jumped, not sensing her presence. “MJ, it’s not- I wasn’t-” 

“Dude, I was kidding.” She said as her lips formed a smile. “You know, I thought you would be all over this field trip. You’re like the biggest science geek I know.” She said right before Pepper started to lead them to the lunch area. “Well…” Peter started. “It’s just, well all we get to do is look. I would really be excited if I had access to build something. With the amount of tools and equipment Mr. Stark owns, I could sit all day just to build.” The two joined up with Ned as they all had the pleasure of eating lunch in the Stark Industries cafeteria. 

After a delightful lunch everyone’s attention was back on Ms. Potts. “Now that you have eaten, I have a surprise for you all. Mr. Stark had called me to let you all know that he will give you all a two hour access to his interns lab for the duration of your field trip. He trusts that you all would like to work with his tools considering that you are from a school of science.” The group of students go up and started to follow her. “As you know, Stark Industries is the leading company in the world when it comes to clean air and profits. We have some of the most advanced technology there is to offer, when you are all college age Mr. Stark offers scholarships and internships to exceptional students.”

Peter walked in and found a workbench by Ned. The work benches were in sets of two, there was just enough for his whole class to fit. Ms. Potts let the students know that everything in this room is available and they can start whenever they’d like. 

“Peter! What are you going to build? A school project would be the best if done here.” Peter looked at him almost concerned. “What, I’m going to work on something I’ve almost finished at home. This equipment will help me perfect it.” 

Peter went and grabbed a number of materials and laid them onto the table. “It’s a personal help tracker. Sorta, I don’t have an official name yet. Anyways, the way it works is you wear it as a watch and when your vitals are high, you push the distress button on the center of the screen. A signal will be sent to every electronic device within a mile radius. The alert on the devices will show location and reveal a number to call authorities.” Peter explained like it was a simple tool. 

The ambitious teenager started on his invention right away. He wrote down every step as he went, making sure nothing was forgotten. After an hour and forty five minutes Peter made the finishing touches to his watch. He looked over to his friend who was working on his own project. 

“I think I’m done.” Peter looked at it. “If I hadn’t worked on this before it would’ve taken me the whole day.” 

Ned looked at it. “Do you know if it works?” 

“No, I’m pretty confident though.” Peter grabbed his sheet that contained several materials and each step it took to create it. “Ms. Potts, would I be able to make a copy of this?” He held up his sheet. 

“Of course, the copier is right across the room.” She pointed to it. Peter quickly made his way over and copied the sheet. Then he set the first one on his original work bench and folded the other putting it in his pocket. 

“Alright kids, Time to finish up what you are all doing.” Ms. Potts raised her voice so everyone could hear her. “Please leave everything here. It is vital that any stark equipment does not leave this room. Take a picture or video of your project if you would like to keep it. Thank you for understanding our policies.” Peter only grinned knowing he had step by step instructions in his pocket. 

As they all went to the bottom floor of the lobby there were small gift bags lined up with their names. Peter went to grab his before someone snatched it up. “I thought you had quick reflexes?” MJ said handing him his bag. “Thanks” He opened it and found 3 candy bars, a mini _Stark Industries_ Water bottle, a bunch of suckers, and a 10 dollar gift card to Coldstone. 

Everyone loaded onto the bus. Peter sat down and MJ sat next to him leaving Ned to find a seat of his own. He ended up sitting by MJ’s friend, Betty. MJ looked at Peter and made a pouty face. “Are you sad we didn’t meet Tony Stark?”

“What!? No. It’s just, I had been working on this invention for a while and today I whipped it right up and I left it there at the tower. It makes me a little upset that it was that easy. All I needed were a couple of materials.” 

“At least you now know that you can build it right. Think about the positives of it. Maybe Tony Stark will see it and ask you to sell it or work for him!” The last part of her sentence was so sarcastic. 

“Ha. Ha. Ha… Yeah right. Mr. Stark wouldn’t even have a good reason to glance at something like that.” Peter said before hunching back and looking out the window.

__________

Tony Stark finished his meeting around 4:00pm. “FRIDAY, can you send Ms.Potts into the lounge room?” There was a moment of silence before the A.I. spoke up. “Ms. Potts is currently busy right now, she will be able to meet with you for a couple of minutes if you make your way down to floor 3. 

“Always bossing me around.” Tony mumbled as he went into the elevator and made his way down to floor 3. He watched as the number on the elevator descended, once the elevator stopped he walked out to the third floor. “Now where is she?” He walked past the intern labs before he stopped as a glint came into his view. The clean up crew was picking up all the inventions that were sitting on the tables. Tony made his way over and he looked at the watch that caught his eye, under it was a list of notes and instructions.

“Tony, if you need to talk to me, I need you to do it quickly.” Pepper said walking into the room. “That’s not important. Who was in here today?” 

“You said the Midtown high school students may work here during their field trip.” Pepper looked at him a second longer. “Okay, well I can’t wait around here any longer. I have papers to fill out upstairs. I’ll be in my office if you need me.” With that she left. 

Tony read the paper. “ _The Self Help Watch Thing…_ What kind of name is that? Whatever, what does this do?” He continued to read. “ _-Only reacts when the owners heartbeat or vitals overreact. -Watch can try and calm down the wearer or send a distress signal to all mobile devices within a 1 mile radius. -Distress signal will display the local police number or 911.”_ Tony looked at it scratching his head. “This is impressive, the real question is does it work.” He put it on his wrist. “This is probably the ugliest watch I have ever worn.” 

“FRIDAY, send Happy down to the boxing ring please. Make sure he is ready to go.” “Right away Sir.” She responded happily. Tony himself headed down and got into his boxing clothes. 

“Why are we doing this at 5 in the afternoon?” Happy put on his rubber helmet.

“Because I wanted to- test out a new move. Definitely.”

“Un-huh, you sound so sure about that.” Happy crawled into the ring after Tony. “Alright Tony, let’s see what you got.” 

With that the two start to box. Once the first gland of sweat dropped from Tony’s forehead, Tony’s watch turned red. He pushed a button and suddenly Tony and Happy’s phones started to rapidly beap. Happy, who was unaware of the situation, grabbed his phone.

“Happy, what does your phone show?” Tony wanted to know about this breakthrough. 

Happy turned his phone to Tony. “The police department number and 911… Do you know why it’s showing up?” 

Tony clicked the watch and stopped the beeping. “Good work Happy. I have a call to make.” Then he left. 

“Tony, Pepper Potts has requested your immediate assistance in her office.” FRIDAY’s voice rang over the speaker. Tony laughed. “Tell her I’ll be right up.” He went into the elevator and made his way into Pepper’s office. “Yes, my wonderful CEO.” 

Pepper looked up from her phone. “Explain to me why there were emergency numbers on my phone?” She wasn’t yelling, but she definitely did not have an inside voice. 

Tony only shrugged his shoulders with a smug look on his face. “We might have a great new extension to Stark Industries. I just need to contact one person.” He looked at the signature on the paper and said then at Pepper. “You mentioned a school coming here today right.”

Pepper nodded. “Midtown High, freshman class. Tony, what are you getting here?” Tony held up a paper reading the signature. “A brilliant high schooler named Peter Parker.”

  
  



	2. Chapter Two: Encounters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little longer than the first and has more plot oriented things happening. I hope you do like it, make sure to comment and let me know your thoughts.

The air brushed across his face as he swung through the city of Queens. Peter perched himself on the top of a business building. The lights that lit up the streets and the low buzzing of cars made his senses alert. He always needed to see or hear over the nightly noise. 

After swinging around the city for another hour he looked at his watch. It read 3:47am. “I should probably be heading back soon it’s getting pretty late. Get three hours of sleep or so before-” As he passed over a gazebo in a park he heard the name Tony Stark. “What in the-” 

The boy stopped himself putting his hood up and made his way back over so he was hidden, but close enough to hear the conversation about the famous playboy. “This doesn’t look suspicious at all.” He said under his breath.

A large man with a scruffy beard spoke. “Doing something like that will get us killed.”

Peter looked through his tinted goggles to see a skinny nerdy looking guy among the group. “What we need to go for is something else. Something more important, that has value.”

There were two other guys he couldn’t make out from his point of view. “While keeping a smart tatic in mind, we must remember what Stark did to us. There is no way we can make this light. He deserves proper payment. Give it time and we can find something.”

Peter backed away hearing enough. Quickly he webbed the corner of a building a gilded back home. “That didn’t seem too serious. It sounded as if they needed to repay him, like he gave them something and they want to return back properly.” The spider kid tucked himself into his bedroom window and changed into his PJs before slipping into his warm bed for the night. 

He still had an unsettling feeling. “Repayment… whatever I’m just overthinking things.” He used his web shooter to turn the light off and then he quickly fell asleep. 

The next morning Peter pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. Then his jacket before walking out into the living room. “Peter, there's a granola bar for you on the table. I’ll be home a bit earlier tonight, so you can get a bit of my amazing cooking.” 

Peter scrunched his nose and laughed. Then he looked at the food and grabbed the granola bar and started to eat it. “Thanks May. Love you!” Peter shouted with his mouth half full. He grabbed hold of his bag and began walking to school. He put his earbuds in and made his way down. 

Arriving at school he’d seen Ned and MJ sitting on the steps outside waiting for him. “Hey guys, thanks for waiting up.” Peter made his way over.

“Yes, it’s not like we do it every single morning Peter.” MJ said in a peppy sarcastic tone. The three walked into the school building and headed for their first class. Peter stopped at his locker only to find Flash leaning against it. “Hey Parker!” 

“What do you want now?” Peter deflated as he looked at the boy.

Flash laughed and stood up straight. “Always has to be a reason huh. Well remember decathlon practice is today. We’re picking spots for the state team. If you get put on and I don’t, there’ll be hell to pay.” 

Peter stared at him blankly. “Are you really trying to pick a fight over a decathlon spot? I thought most bullies threatened the little people about being the best. Here you are trying to prove that your intelligence surpasses my own when really… you’re an insecure idiot.” Peter paused before realizing what he said. 

Within a second of speaking Flash grabbed his jacket collars and pushed him against the lockers. “You're really asking for it Parker.” 

“For what? There wasn’t a question mark in my tone at all earlier.” Peter smirked before Flash pushed off of him and punched him in the face. Peter did his best not to react. The punch felt more like a tap to the superhuman. 

“Woah Flash, no need to get so violent.” Peter saw the next hit coming and grabbed Flash’s hand before it made any contact with him. 

“Boys!!” Peter quickly let go of Flash as they both straighten out. The english teacher stepped outside of the classroom and saw the fight. “Office! Now!” He grabbed Peter and Flash’s shoulders leading them to the office. Flash glared at Peter the whole walk down. 

They walked into the office. “These boys both need a detention or at least talk to the principle. They were physically fighting in the hallway!” The principal walked out of his office into the secretary’s area. “Flash come to my office so I can speak with you. Peter I will deal with you after school. I don’t want to keep Mr. Stark waiting too long.”

“What!?” Flash and Peter questioned in unison. Flash looked at the waiting chairs as he walked into the principal’s office. Peter looked over as well and there sat Tony Stark himself. He tried to stop his mouth from gaping. Tony said a simple phrase almost catching Peter off guard. “Mr. Parker…” 

Peter tried to muster words so he could talk properly. “H-hi, I-I, I’m Peter. What are- what are you doing here?”

Tony stood from his chair and looked at the secretary. “Is there a room I can talk to him alone in?” She nodded and led them to the school board room which was currently empty. 

“I’m not sure why you-” Peter started as the door shut.

Tony quickly cut him off. “Ah Ah Ahh. My turn first.” He pulled out the watch Peter created the other day. “This, this is impressive. You only had a couple hours and you created a full functioning invention.” He looked at the watch. “With some tweaking and reviewing, this could help a lot of people.”

Peter was so embarrassed, but happy. The famous Tony Stark was complimenting him. “Thank you Mr. Stark, but I’m not sure why you still came to my school to flatter me.”

Tony gave the watch to Peter. “I didn’t come to flatter you, that’s not how I work. I came to offer you an internship at Stark Industries. Out of all the college and adult interns I’ve had, this is one of the most impressive things I have seen… and it came from a freshman in high school.”

Peter wanted to accept, but he was Spiderman, his time was already crunched as is. He also had the Decathlon State Competition coming up. “Sir, Mr. Stark. I would love to but-” 

Once again Tony interrupted him without hearing his protest. “Sounds great. I can get you the-”

Peter cut him off trying to defend his case. “Mr. Stark I can’t… I have Decathlon on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then homework.” 

Tony gave him a blank look and straightened his glasses. “Seriously… you can do any homework at the Tower and the internship days can be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Remember Kid, you are being offered something from a very powerful man. I can move my schedule around to fit you in. So Mr. Parker… Do we have a deal?” He held out his hand.

Peter couldn’t find any reason why not to. Spiderman did take up time, but he could always do that after the internship. Peter smiled trying to muster confidence and shook his hand. “Thank you Mr. Stark. You won’t regret this.” Tony looked at Peter. “I know I won’t. Now, I need you to grab your things. You and I are going to the Tower and I’ll show you the ropes of what you’ll be doing.” Tony placed a firm hand on Peter’s shoulder before walking out of the room.

Peter followed Tony out of the building and into a sleek black car that waited outside. Peter sat in the back where Tony also climbed in. “So kid… Why did you make this?”

Peter perked up slightly surprised. “What?”

“The watch thing. Why’d you make it?”

“Oh, um…” Peter made it more for Spiderman, making it easier for him to protect others, but also himself if he was in a rut. “To make the world a safer place?” His voice wavered.

“...Okay. That was a total lie, but I’ll go with it I guess. Anyway, who should I call to let them know that you got this internship?”

“My aunt May is the one who takes care of me… Mr. Stark. Are you really sure you want me for this?”

“When am I not sure?” Tony took off his glasses and placed them in his suit’s chest pocket. “Look Kid, I’m not impressed easily and to be honest I can probably make something similar to this within an hour. But your a 15 year old kid who lives in an apartment complex building creating some advancement equipment. I also figured out that you are on a scholarship at Midtown. It pays all the school fees because of your middle school test scores.”

Peter wanted to protest before the driver slammed on the brakes of the car. The two of them jerked forward letting their seat belts catch them. “Happy! What the hell was that!?” Tony yelled trying to unlock his seatbelt.

“Sorry Tony. Someone just ran a red light…” The car continues to roll on once it was safe. “-and Parker whatever your name is, I wouldn’t try to fight Tony on this. The man wouldn’t pay any attention to you unless you had any sense of promise.” The driver kept his eyes on the road and made it clear that he was finished. 

The group arrived at the Tower and Peter was quickly escorted inside. Tony showed the kid around and explained to him where he can and can’t go. “Take this.” Tony handed him a card with a blue marking. “This mark will get you to about half of the places in the building. The cafeteria, labs, storage, things like that.” 

Tony stopped and looked at Peter. “Well, that’s all I really needed to show you.” Tony pulled some documents off the table. “Take these and have your aunt fill them out. It is just some paperwork that allows you to intern here. You’re my first minor, so I have to take different precautions.” He handed them to Peter. “Alright, Happy will take you back to school. Should be around lunchtime. Peter Parker, I am interested to see what you have to provide. Now I will see you tomorrow and don’t forget the paperwork. ”

Peter sighed and followed Happy out of the tower and Tony went to his lab. The man sat down in a chair and looked at his computer screen. Then FRIDAY’s voice rang over the speaker. “Sir, James Rhodes has requested to enter the lab.” 

“Let him in.” Tony turned in his swiveled his chair around.

Rodney came in and looked around at the mess of a lab Tony owned. “Have you ever heard of picking up after yourself?”

“I have a lot going on, so why are you here?” 

“Right to the point I see. Alright, you’re being targeted.”

Tony’s expression didn’t even change. “Your point?”

Rodney pulled out notes from his pocket. “Aren't you at least a little worried? I wouldn’t be telling you about this if it wasn’t serious.”

“This isn’t the first time someone has wanted me hurt or dead.” Tony stood up from his chair and grabbed his iron man bracelets. “Then how about I take care of it right now. Would that make you feel better?”

Rodney sat down in Tony’s swivel chair. “There lies the problem. We don’t know who they are or what they want, or we would’ve caught them by now. All we know is this.” He pulled out his phone and showed the screen to Tony. 

The top of the picture had a  _ Stark Industries _ logo and at note taped under it. The item looked to be a metal object of some kind. ‘Watch your back Stark or you’ll never know what's coming.’ Then under that lied an old Iron Man helmet. 

“...How did you get this information?” Tony questioned going through the papers. 

“Another member of my team had found and sent this to me. Were thinking they wanted you to find it in person, but we already pulled any information we can get from our database. Which is little to nothing.” Rodney got up and put a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “If you find anything let me know, and watch your back Tony.” Then he left the room.

**“** Rhodes is probably making a big deal out of nothing.” Tony grabbed the printed paper of the picture threat. Putting the information on his tech table he started to break down the threat. “FRIDAY, scan this photo and give me whatever information you can find.”

“Yes Tony, the results will be ready in 8 minutes.” The A.I. spoke in a cheerful tone. Tony sat in the room fiddling with anything while waiting for the machine to finish its work.

“Results are ready Tony. Would you like to view my findings?”

“Bring them up FRIDAY.”

“Tony, I have found Three total results.

Result 1: The logo in the photo was an unsold, discarded weapon. The serial number in the photo has determined that the weapon was a 2008 test weapon. This device was never used in the sales market.

Result 2: The Iron Man head in the photo was once again a discarded suit. This was one of the first Iron Man models.

Result 3: The paper in the photo is classic lined paper without a brand. It was pulled from a spiral notebook due to the fraying on the left end.”

“FRIDAY, you said that the bomb and iron man mask were discontinued. Are you saying that they never left the workplace?”

“Yes sir.” 

“That breaks my suspects down. They had to have access to the building somehow. From 2008, when Obadiah was around. It couldn’t have been him though. He was after my tech. and company. Whoever this is has something personal with me, someone I probably don’t know exists.” Tony ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Whatever, this is probably nothing too serious. I look more into it if there is any activity. Rhodes said it was serious, but I have received similar crap all the time.”

\-----

Peter was in the black vehicle riding back to the school. “You must be something special kid.” Happy said from the front seat. 

“What, what are you talking about?” 

“You caught Tony’s attention without even meeting him. I’ve known Tony for years and the only other person who has done that was Bruce Banter.”

“I get that, but it's just… Why me? He said that he could create something like that within an hour.”

The car came to a stop as Happy parked at the front of the school. “It’s because he had seen something in you. I’m not sure what, but when Tony saw your design, he knew that the creator behind it was worth something. Don’t tear yourself up about it. Just enjoy what you do and take hold of the opportunity.”

Peter got out of the vehicle and walked back into his school. Peter didn’t know what to think, he just met the richest man alive and was forced into an internship under him. His chest tightened with fear and excitement.

After classes were over he served his detention and went to Decathlon practice at 4:00pm. “Peter, you’re here!” Ned said walking over to his friend. Him and Peter did their secret handshake before. “Of course, how could I miss it? This is State.” 

Their teacher spoke up over the students. “Alright, the tests you took last practice were determining who was chosen for the State team. After I announce the participants and alternates I’m giving you all packets to complete outside of practice. These will be similar questions to the ones you will see at the State Competition.”

MJ nudged him and smiled. “I bet you were the highest scorer, you always are.” Peter glanced up at her and smiled. “Uh, thanks. I am positive you were picked as well.” They both looked forward to the results. 

“Number one, Peter Parker. Number two, Michelle Jones. Number three, Abe Brown. Number four, Cindy Moon. Number five, Flash Thompson. Number six, Ned Leeds. The rest will be alternates. Now take these packets and head home.”

“Look at that. Just one step ahead MJ.” Peter snickered handing her a packet. 

“Thanks” She replied snatching it from his hand. “You better watch your back Peter, or you’ll never see what's coming.” MJ warned before leaving to get her things.

Peter was walking home when he heard his phone beep.  _ May: Come home soon, I need to talk to you.  _ “This is new, she never text me about things like this.” Peter put his phone in his pocket and continued home. 

Unlocking the door of his apartment he walked in a saw May sitting at the kitchen table. “You needed to talk to me?” Peter questioned letting his aunt know he was there. “Oh my goodness, you’re already here.” She held her phone in the air. “Anyway, what is this whole thing about a Stark Internship?”

  
  



	3. Chapter Three: Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a good chunk longer than the other chapters. I hope you like it! Not a whole lot of Tony and Peter, but just wait for chapter 4. Anyway, please leave kudos and comment your thoughts! I would love to hear them. Well, I hope you all enjoy.

“May this is huge! Think about how amazing this would look on a scholarship form or resume! Think about the opportunities that this can open up!” Peter was pacing around the table May was sitting at. She flips through, looking at the papers. 

“Peter, listen to me… Do you really want to do this?”

He stopped pacing for a moment and looked at her. “Yes.” 

May looked at the papers and laughed. “Alright then, but we have to set ground rules. You always have to let me know when you are on your way home.” Stark Towers is a good half hour drive and a 45 minute train or bus ride.”

“C’mon May you-” Then realization came to him. “Wait… I can? You’re letting me do the internship?” Peter stared at his aunt in disbelief. Though Peter wasn’t sure about the internship in the first place, it really did open some new doors in his complicated life. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Peter wrapped May up in a tight hug. 

“You’re welcome Peter, but if you don’t call or text me, letting me know where you are then I’m taking you out. Got it?” Peter nodded his head vigorously. 

“Yes! Perfectly.” Peter then sat down by his aunt and helped her with all of the paperwork.

The next day Peter woke up and wanted this internship to go perfectly. He threw on his regular school clothes and grabbed a set of nice clothes for the internship. Then he went to school and sat through all his classes with an anxious anticipation. Once the clock hit 3:15pm Peter ran out of class into the bathroom. He changed and took his things leaving the school. 

Peter practically rushed to the bus stop leading to Manhattan. The papers read that the internship was 4:30-6:30. Peter found a seat and sat down letting out a quick breath of relief. 

Within an hour Peter stepped off the bus. He looked around and saw that he was unfamiliar with the area. “Okay, I have about 20 minutes to get there…” Peter turned around and could see the tower over the buildings. “Well that makes things easier.” With that Peter made his way over to the overbarring tower. 

When he reached the door he stepped inside. The whole structure of the building still marveled him. Peter walked up to the desk where another man was talking to the secretary. Peter fished out his badge from his bag and showed it to her.

The man next to him looked at Peter and smiled. “Hey, you have the same intern badge I do.” The man looked to be in his early thirties. 

“Um, yeah. This is my first day as an intern here. I’m Peter by the way.” He shook the older man's hand.

“The name is Adrik, If you want I can show you the way.” Peter accepted and followed the other intern. His voice was oddly familiar. 

“So, um, you seem a bit older than the rest of the interns here, are you doing it as a side thing or preparing for another job?” Peter asked to keep the encounter from getting awkward.

The man seemed surprised and laughed. “Well I’ve worked for Stark in a different department for about 15 years. I decided it was time for a change.”

Peter smiled. “Wait, so you knew Mr. Stark before he became Iron Man?!” 

“I did actually. I helped him with a lot of the behind the scenes tech work.” Adrik said walking through the intern lab doorway. 

“That is amazing! I wish I was able to do something like that.” Peter marveled at Adrik and how chill he was about knowing such an amazing guy. The two got into the lab and there was a workbench with a number of tools lying on it and a nameplate reading  _ Peter Parker. _

“Woah, this makes me feel special.” Peter walked up to the bench and looked at all the tools. “These are amazing about half of these or crazy high dollar! Mr. Stark really knows how to impress.” Peter said to Adrik. 

“As does any scientist.” Every intern in the room was shocked and turned around to see Tony Stark standing in the doorway. “Everyone please continue on with your work. I’ll be coming around and see what you all have going.”

Tony immediately walked towards Peter and placed a firm hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Hey kid. Alright it’s your first day so I want to start you off with something you already know.” Tony placed Peter’s invention in front of him. “That is absolutely ugly and no matter what it does, no one will wear that. So what your job is, is to create a design that is appealing as well as some add-” 

“Wait, Mr. Stark. I wasn’t planning on anyone else really wearing it. As you said, it’s something you can create very easily. I thought you were going to remodel it” Tony sighed and looked at Peter. 

“I offered you this internship because I believe you can do great things. Now do as I say and you may be surprised with the final result. I have high hopes for you Mr. Parker.” Tony backed away and took a quick glance at the other projects before leaving the room. 

Peter sighed and looked at the watch. “He isn’t wrong, that is pretty ugly… The fact that Stark offered you this internship is even better. How old are you anyway, college freshman?”

Peter laughed “I’m way younger than that. I am a freshman, but I’m only in high school.” Adrik almost dropped his tool. 

“For as long as I worked here, there has never been a high school intern and Tony Stark himself offered you this. You must be one of the smartest kids in the area.”

“Thanks, it’s just a lot of pressure.” Peter pushed a button on the table and an interactive internet projection appeared in the air. Then Peter started to research and find a way to make an appealing original design.

For the next couple hours Peter drew out and started to apply the new design to his watch. A sleek black with silver lining. The border surrounding the screen was golden yellow. For a final touch Peter engraved,  _ Stark Industries,  _ on the wrist band. 

He looked at his screen and looked at the time, 6:27pm. Everyone in the room was packing up or had already left. Adrik came over and smiled. “Looks good, don’t work yourself too hard.”

Peter watched them leave and turned on his bench. He looked at the watch and then at the time once more. “It’s probably not very professional to stay past my first day.” He packed up his things and put his invention in a protective case. He made his way outside and found Adrik. “Hey, wait up. Do you by any chance take the bus down?”

Adrik smiled “No, but I have a car if you don’t care to ride with me. I can drop you off at home if you’d like.” 

Peter smiled and nodded. “Thanks.” Peter knew if Adrik was some crazy physco that his senses would have noted it or he could fight him off if needed. 

The two got into a nice silver BMW “Thank you Adrik, I just wanted to talk to you.” 

“About what kid? You knew me for one day and you’re already letting me drive you home.” He backed out and started to drive. 

“Well it’s just… I was really young when Mr. Stark became the way he is and I was wondering what he was like before that. I was told that he was kind of a jerk. I also can handle myself if for some reason you tried to attack me.”

Peter and Adrik started to laugh. “Yes I'm totally going to attack you… No, but Stark might seem like he is different, which isn’t completely wrong. But Tony is the same old egotistical guy I knew back then.”

Peter raised an eyebrow and looked at him. “What… What are you talking about? Mr. Stark created the Avengers, he has saved countless lives-”

“He also killed several people… before and after. During the fight of Sokovia-” Adrik stopped mid-sentence. “I’ve said too much. I’m sorry, I don’t want to fight about this.” He stopped at a red light. “I have known Stark, but I knew a lot more about Obadiah, he was a good guy until he tried to take over. That was a doozy.” 

“I was told that Obadiah was the one who paid for Mr. Stark’s capture in Afghanistan.” Peter trailed off at the end. “Anyway this internship is so cool. I’m really excited to show Mr. Stark my watch once it is completed. I plan on making the finishing touches on Friday and it should be ready to show.” Peter texted May that he would be home soon. Then he looked out the window while Adrik spoke. Peter kind of tuned him out as he saw the smoke filled sky and small trails flames. “That’s really close.”

“What… Oh jeez. I hope they get that cleared soon.”

“Yeah, um I live right up here.” Peter lied so he could get out and change sooner.

Adrik looked at him. “I thought you lived more in the heart of Queens.” He pulled in and looked at Peter. I hope you do a good job on that watch. Let me know if you get anywhere with Stark. I feel like he has grown a liking to you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Thank Adrik I'll see you Friday.” Peter left and waited until Adrik left to find a spot to change. Peter looked and saw an old building, he had snuck behind it and put on his spider gear and goggles. “Lets do this.” Peter shot a web and flew off. Within a couple swings he was at the scene. He could feel the heat from where he was.

“My son and daughter! They’re still in there!” Peter saw a woman in tears. 

“What floor?” 

“The 6th. Please hurry, they could be dying!” She was almost hysterical

Peter used his webs and smashed through the window. He paused and heard sobbing. Peter could barely breathe with the smoke. “Hello?!” Peter cried.

“Over” They coughed. “Over here!” He tried to yell. Peter maneuvered his way around the fire. And found a boy with his sister. She looked unconscious. “She has asthma! She’s breathing, but I’m scared.” The young boy started to cry. 

Peter grabbed the two kids, right when he got to the window Peter saw a beam fall from the ceiling. They were too high for Peter to throw them out and them to land safely. Peter put both kids under him and shielded them with his body. He grunted as his back was burned and scrapped. Peter slowly pushed the wood off and swung out and put the kids safely on the ground. 

Peter felt like he could barely breathe. Suddenly a man came up to him. “My wife, and my son. They are not here! They’re still inside. Please get them out!”

Peter took a breath as the man pointed to the window. “I’ll get them out, don’t worry.” Spiderman went in to search and quickly found them. He had to burn his hands moving rubbled it to get to them. One the last beam he slipped and almost fell into the pile severely burning his left arm. “Damn it!” He gritted through his teeth. Peter got the two out safe and sound. 

Peter was relieved when everyone was with their families. As that repuser sound came into the picture Peter left knowing his work was done. 

He made his way home. He was struggling to swing out. His web missed and he tumbled across the top of a building. 

Spiderman took off his mask and rolled to his stomach to relieve his back of pain. “Oh” He groaned slowly getting up. “That hurt… a lot.” Peter put his hood up and made his way home in a much more careful and safe matter. 

He snuck in through the window and put away his burnt suit. “Dang it, now I have to buy a new freaking hoodie. Whatever.” Peter looked at his burns. “I got to clean these up. Even with my fast healing this will at least take two or three days.” He went to the bathroom to do just that.

Peter looked at the burns that stretched across his back and the other that spread across his forearm, his hands weren't the cleanest either. “May, I’m home! Sorry I’m later than usual. The bus went through major traffic. Took a long time.” 

“Thank you for texting me on your way back hun.” May called from the kitchen. “The traffic was probably from the fire down the way. I heard it was three apartment complexes that were in a row.”

Peter dabbed off the blood and tried to cool down the burn. He wrapped his hands in bandages. Peter took a quick shower and then he threw on his sweatshirt walking into the living room. He slowly sat on the couch being careful to not hurt his back. “Yeah, the smoke was still billowing on my way home.”

“That fire, it was that Spiderboy from Youtube. He really helped those people get out. It was all over the news.” May came into the living room and handed Peter a glass of orange juice. 

“Thank you” Peter took the glass. “Also May, his name is Spiderman. I heard Iron Man helped too.” 

May went to the kitchen. “I’m making pasta tonight. I hope you’re hungry.”

Peter took a large gulp of his juice and wiped his mouth. “Very”

\------

Tony yawned as the elevator made its way to the top floor. A satisfying ding rang out and the doors opened. Tony walked out into Pepper Pott’s office. “Hello my love.” He walked to her chair and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I was wondering if you were free on Saturday. I was hoping I could take you to a lovely place. Just the two of us.”

Pepper did not look happy when he first came in, but her expression softened as he continued. “Well, isn’t this a surprise? It is Wednesday and you are asking if I am free on Saturday.” Pepper pulled out a mini planner and Saturday was completely free. “Mr. Stark, it looks like I am yours. Do you have anything in mind?” She placed her hands on his.

Tony leaned over kissed her cheek, “That is for me to know, and for you to find out.” He smirked. “I think we should do som-” Suddenly Tony’s phone started to buzz. 

He answered it before nodding and hanging up. I have to go. “There was a series of building fires and they’re nervous about building structure.” 

Tony slapped on his bracelets and within a second the Iron Man uniform enclosed around him. “It’s a date.” Tony said as his helmet made its way to his body.

“That it is, now be careful.” 

Tony turned away and flew across the city to the place of the fires, a black cloud of smoke was quickly filling the sunset air covering the purple hue that sundown caused. Tony sped up and reached the area within 5 minutes. 

“Iron Man!” People shouted over and over again. There was a child with soot and dirt covering her face and arms. She looked unharmed though, along with everyone else. Everyone was safe, not one person with a single burn, just a little smoke inhalation. Tony walked over to the fire department. “Is everyone out of the buildings?”

“Yes, all we need your help with is putting it out as well as keeping these buildings standing.” Tony was able to get a hose from one of the firefighters and started to work in the back of the structures. Every now and then he would have to laser beams inside to keep their stability. 

With the help of Iron Man the fires were out within the course of an hour. Iron Man talked to some kids who wanted to meet him and signed a couple of autographs. Then Tony exited his suit and talked to the chief of the fire department. “I’m sorry I didn’t arrive sooner, the call was a bit unexpected.”

“No, I’m glad you got here when you did.” 

“Thanks, but I have a question. There were a few people that were pulled out of the building. No one could’ve gotten in there, that fire was calculated at around 2,400 degrees.”

“Oh yeah, we had one more person helping us. He left right when you showed up though. Have you seen the Spiderguy from youtube… or in might be Spiderman. Anyway, he swung in and got almost 4 or 5 people from the higher floors out. I think he got hurt though. He didn’t look the greatest after he got the last person out of there.”

“Why did he bail out after I came?”

The fire fighter looked at him. “Maybe he thought there was nothing more he could do? Also, that outfit he wore is old and flammable. He probably would’ve killed himself if he was there much longer.”

Tony thought about it while stepping back into his suit. “I hope to meet him sometime soon.” Then in his Iron Man suit he flew back to the Tower. 

All the workers went home and Tony enjoyed the silence of the Tower. He went up to the lounge and sat down on the couch. “Hey FRIDAY, any update on that threat?” 

“No sir, there has been no occuring activity of this case.” 

“Awesome, how about that watch the new intern is working on. Peter Parker.”

“Calculating files… Peter Parker’s watch has been given a new redesign. A photo has been sent to your phone. There have been no updates of the mechanics of the device.”

Tony squinted as the bright of his phone illuminated his face. Once his eyes adjusted he pulled up the picture. “Woah, that’s slick. This is the one that the kid made?” 

“Yes Tony, if you were to ask me. I say that Peter Parker and his records are a mini version of you.”

“What do you mean?” Tony was a little confused, it was also odd to have a full fledged conversation with his A.I. 

“I will send a copy of his forms and background to your phone.”

The A.I. made quick work and sent the files to his mobile device. “Thank you FRIDAY.” Tony’s interest about this overcame his need to take a shower or go to bed. “Alright Peter Parker, what’s your story?” Tony turned his phone and projected the images to get a better view.

**_Confidential Information: Intern Peter Parker_ **

**_Name:_ ** _ Peter B. Parker _

**_Date of Birth:_ ** _ August 10th 2001 _

**_Current Age:_ ** _ 15 _

**_Height:_ ** _ 5’8 _

**_Weight:_ ** _ 158lbs _

**_Hair Color:_ ** _ Light Brown _

**_Eye Color:_ ** _ Brown _

**_Parents:_ ** _ Richars and Mary Parker (Deceased)  _

**_Guardians:_ ** _ Benjamin Parker (Deceased) May Parker (Alive) _

**_Address:_ ** _ 20 Ingram St. Forest Hills, Queens. Apt. 31 _

**_Background Information:_ ** _ Peter Parker was born in 2001 to Richard and Mary Parker were members of the CIA. They were both field agents who worked under Nick Fury. They were found by Red Skull during a mission and assassinated in a plane crash which was seen as an engine malfunction. Peter was only 3 years old when this happened. Peter was given to his aunt and uncle. Growing up Peter was in the most advanced classes because of his smarts. He won a high school science fair when he was 9 years old. He has also earned many awards and has been offered many work studies. 6 months ago Peter’s uncle was killed in a convenience store robbery. Peter was waiting outside in the car when it happened. They did find the killer with the help of Spiderman. In the end Peter has been going to school along with being on the decathlon team and starting up the Stark Internship.  _

Tony looked at the time and shut his phone off. “9:46pm sheesh… you’re right FRIDAY. He and I have many similarities from our past. Some are not the greatest.” Tony sat up and stretched out his back. “Peter Parker, you will always surprise me.” Tony mumbled heading towards his room. 


	4. Chapter Four: Lab Time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all!!! Sorry this chapter is so late. With Midterms just getting up and me coming to Minnesota for spring break life has been crazy. Also figured out that my high school and college classes are canceled for the next month due to covid-19. Anyway, not a lot of action in this chapter, but I really hope you like it. Assuming I stay healthy my schedule should be back on track for posting. Please write comments, they really do make my day. Stay Healthy and wash your hands. Hope you enjoy!!!

**Friday 12:08pm**

MJ set her tray by Peter and sat next to him. “So, you thought you could hide your secret forever.” 

Peter pulled his sleeves to cover up his bandaged hands. He put his milk carton down and looked at her with one eyebrow raised. She can’t know about Spiderman. “Oh yeah… and what may that be?”

“I know about… your internship with Tony Stark.”

Peter tried to not flinch. “Oh yeah? What proof do you have?”

MJ smirked “Ned told me.” 

“Ned!?” Peter’s expression disappeared, he face palmed and looked up at her. “I literally texted him last night and specifically said not to tell anyone.” Peter groaned and gave Ned a look as he sat down with him. “Ned, that thing. I told you less than 24 hours ago and you’ve already said something?!”

“Ah C’mon Peter, it's pretty cool information.” MJ nudged him. 

“Peter this is one of the coolest things ever. You met freaking Tony Stark.” Ned shouted and a few people looked at him. 

“Ned seriously quiet down. I don't want people talking or hassling me about it.” 

MJ put her hand over her mouth like she was holding back. 

Peter shot her a glare. “What's so funny.”

“It's just- It's just” MJ started laughing like Peter has never seen before. Her hand was on her stomach. She sucked in a few quick breaths before wiping her eyes. “I’m sorry Peter, but even if everyone knew you had this internship… I don’t think anyone would care.”

Peter furrowed his brow line. “That is so not true. You can’t just assume people won’t believe me.” He got up to throw the leftovers of his tray in the trash. He mumbled to himself as he walked back. “MJ has no faith in me… so annoy-” 

Peter stopped when he ran into someone. “Oh sorry” He looked to see Flash. How does he always run into the one guy he hates. The universe really doesn’t take kindly to Peter. 

“Ah, no it’s my fault.” Flash said smoothly, two of his larger friends stood with him. “I wanted to ask you about that meeting you had with Tony Stark the other day? How did it go?”

Peter was about to scoot his way past, but Flash’s buddy got in his way. “It was fine… He just had an offer to make. Nothing special really.” He put his hands in his pocket. Watching his tongue was the hardest part, getting sent to the principal’s after school would make him late for the internship. “Look Flash, I don’t want any trouble I just-”

Flash placed his elbow on Peter's shoulder. “And I don’t want any trouble. I just... “ He stood up straight and crossed his arms. “I have a party at my house tonight. A lot of senior girls are coming. There'll be some alcohol, it's a good time. If you would like to come, you're invited.”

Peter was shocked but he shook it off. “Seriously? I don’t thi-”

Flash put his hands up. “You’re choice if you come. You’ll regret it if you don’t!” 

Flash walked away with his friends like nothing happened. Peter went back to his table and sat down. 

“What was that all about?” Ned asked after he finished chewing his food.

“Well, to be honest. I’m not sure.” Peter put his arms on the table and rested his chin in his hands. “Flash was in the office when I met up with Mr. Stark and now he invited me to his party tonight.” 

“He is definitely using you.” MJ put her water bottle down. “It’s kind of obvious. Why would Flash, one of the most popular guys in school invite a science nerd to his house party?”

“MJ, you really know how to piss someone off you know that.”

“Just being honest.”

“Still pisses me off.”

“You knew I was blunt when you became my friend.”

“That is very true, but-”

“But what?” MJ looked at him amused. Peter sat there trying to think of something to say. “That's what I thought.”

She stated before the bell rang and interrupted the conflict. 

The three stood up and headed to their next class.

**3:16pm**

Peter was out the door in second and ran a couple of blocks just nearly missing the bus. He sat down in one of the front seats, he looked over at the man next to him and almost jumped. Peter’s tingle was buzzing, like an itch that won’t go away. 

The man was the same skinny guy he saw in the park that night. He sucked in a breath, and let it out. Just a coincidence. He doesn’t even know who you are. “Hey, could I borrow a pencil?”

Peter’s heart jumped when he spoke to him. “A pencil? … Yeah, just- just a sec.” Peter gave him a number two pencil.

“Thanks”

“Yeah” Peter clenched his backpack and sunk into his seat the rest of the ride there.

After about 15 minutes of the ride, the guy by Peter got off and met up with someone else he recognized. The same guy that was with him that night. The doors of the bus shut, but Peter got up and apologized for not getting off sooner. 

He checked his watch. “3:48, I’ve got time." Peter had seen only two of their faces and it was the two that met up. He kept his distance as he followed behind.

The larger one held up a small brown bag. “The NH4...you needed for… right?” His voice was in a whisper. Peter could barely make out what they were saying over the usual New York noises. 

Peter furrowed his eyebrows NH4, what chemical is that? Why would they need it?”

“Be quiet… you can’t just… like that… stuff is super… okay.”

They turned the corner and right when Peter was about to follow. A horn honk made him jump about two feet in the air.

A window of a silver BMW rolled down. “You need a ride?” Adrik asked unlocking his door. Peter took a second to process what happened. He quickly looked to see the men had disappeared. A little upset he got into the passenger seat of Adrik’s car. 

“Thanks, I-I forgot to grab money for a bus ticket this morning.” 

Adrik looked at Peter and could see the bandages peeking out of his sleeves. “How’d you hurt your hands?” 

“I um, My aunt was cooking and I thought she turned off the stove. I put my hands on it and kind of burned myself. I’ll be fine." Peter reassured him.

“Alright, as long as you're good. Aside from that, you looked a little distracted. I didn’t want you getting lost on the way, it’s a crazy long walk from Queens to Manhattan. Don’t know why anyone would make that trip.”

Peter smirked. “I have my ways on getting around.”

**Stark Tower**

The two arrived and signed into the intership room. “So, I plan on expanding the range of my watch. Then I also want to make it so it doesn’t react to an increased heart rate, but it reacts to the amount of pressure that is flowing through the blood as well as epinephrine. This will make it sure that it only reacts to fear rather than high endorphin levels from working out. I’m going to have to put a specialized sensor on the inside for it to scan and track the blood flow rate.” Peter said, taking a deep breath and sitting at his bench. 

Adrik sat at his own workbench and looked at him. “You really are an intelligent kid. What else are you going to do with it?”

Peter smiled with excitement. “Well, I also want to help it calm down the person wearing it.”

“What is there in someone else's presents, they aren’t going to be able to calm down.”

Peter thought about that and realized he was right. No one would be calm if they were in the hands of a dangerous stranger. “Okay, maybe a way for them to collect their senses and gather themselves to think more rationally.”

“Now you're talking. You’ve got a couple of hours to do all that, so get working.” 

Peter nodded and immediately began working. “So I’ll need….” Peter and grabbed a few small chunks of metal and cutters. “I need a sound box. A very small soundbox.”

Hard at work he began to create a high frequency sound pulse through the watch to detect the blood flow and epinephrine. Peter thought about the connections and then it clicked. “It’s exactly like an ultrasound!” He shouted. All the other interns in the lab spared him a glance and then continued on. Peter started to use his 3D internet pad for help on all the materials. With the next hour of connecting wires and carefully placing metals, Peter was about halfway done with it. “The next part is the hardest… Adrik, where is the bathroom again?”

“Oh, down one floor and take a right.”

“Thanks” Peter figured he only had a half hour before the internship was over. Flash’s party was around 9 or 10 so that wouldn’t be a problem if he ends up going. Peter got to the elevator and couldn’t remember where Adrik told him. 

“Up one floor and to the right. I’m pretty positive that is where it is.” He stood alone in the minute elevator ride. Taking a step out was a little familiar, slightly different than he remembered. “Take a right.” He went right and the hallway was long and filled with modern art painting. The prices on most of these had to be a couple hundred thousand. 

“Talk about flaunting your money.” Peter reached the end of the hallway and found no bathroom. There was a split in directions and it seemed like deja-vu. He was lost, but had some sense of direction. There was a heavy door at the end of the hallway and curiosity got the best of him and his bladder. 

Peter looked to see if anyone was around and when there wasn’t he pushed open the door and found a long set of stairs leading down. Completely forgetting about his original mission of the bathroom he went all the way down to find a glass set of windows and the door propped open. Peter peeked in the window and realized he had wondered all the way to Mr. Stark’s lab. 

“Woah, this is awesome.” There were a few Iron Man suit models lined up. The working robots were scattered around the lab. Peter was looking and ran over finding the new multi-tool weapon with nano-tech switching technology.

He looked over and found a coding chip. Peter looked it over and immediately caught a flaw. The main network stream is connected to the other power stream. You could connect it to the temporary backup and it’ll then let the secondary systems work three times faster as well as saving energy for the back up power system. 

Peter grabbed a pair of tweezers and disconnected the original set up and shifted a few of the streams and fixed the flaw he found. “Perfect.”

“Do you always just welcome yourself into other peoples labs?” 

Peter quickly turned around and was looking for words. Mr. Stark was standing in the doorway. His spidey senses were doing him much good the past few days. “Uh, I-”

“Answer this.” Tony started to waltz towards him. Peter was trying to back away until a table stopped his path. “How do you get from the intern lab all the way to my personal lab. If I remember the set up of my building correctly, I ‘d say they are pretty far apart.” He ended about a foot away from Peter.

“I-I uh, was looking for the bathroom.” 

Tony reached past Peter and grabbed the coding chip. “I’ve been working on this for three days and couldn’t figure out why my suit wasn’t getting the power it needed. The systems were slow and despite working on so many other suits, I tried a new coding mechanism for this one and couldn't figure out the flaw. You figured it out in about 5 minutes.” 

Peter was speechless. “Well, it was nothing really. If the main source isn’t connected to a multisystem it’ll put out power individually rather than all together.”

Tony looked at Peter and smiled. “Here follow me. Lets see how it does with the suit.” Peter looked at Tony in disbelief. He followed him to a prototype. “Step up there on the ladder there.”

Peter climbed the ladder and waited for further instruction. “Put this wherever you think it goes. I’ll give you any tool you ask for.” He handed Peter the chip.

Tony was already blown away by what this kid knew. He had come in with reluctance and humbleness. He waltz into Tony’s lab and almost shows him up.

“Mr.Stark, I really don’t want to break it.” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “Remember what I told you the last time you were here? Do as I say and you may be surprised with the result. Now C’mon.”

Peter smirked and rolled up his sleeves before reaching inside. “Judging by the connecting pieces and the open spaces it can fit… is here.” He connected the piece into the lower back of the suit. 

Tony was about to examine the suit before he caught a sight of Peter’s bandaged forearm and hands. 

“I think I did it-” 

Tony cut him off. “What the hell happened to you?!”

“What do you…” Peter looked at his arms wide eyed and pulled down his sleeves immediately. “It’s uh…” He was totally caught off guard. Think of an excuse, and excuse. “I um, ah was stupid. My aunt had the stove still on and I set my arm on it not realizing it was still hot. Yeah, that's what happened.” Peter shoved his hands in his arms pits and waited to see Tony’s response. 

“Okay, later on remind me to get my burn cream. I’ll let you take it home. Much better than what you can get at a pharmacy. Now what we were talking about.” Tony walked over to his control panel. “Come over here in case this doesn’t work.”

“Are you going to check that I did it right?”

“Nah, I trust you enough.”

Peter widened his eyes and looked back at the suit. “I think you trust me too much Mr. Stark.”

“Alright, let’s do this.” Tony swiped through the controls and pressed a few buttons. Both geniuses watch the suit as it started up. The suit powered up fine, the front suddenly released a set of small rockets simultaneously. 

“Watch it!” Tony grabbed Peter and ducked him down right as it flew over their heads. Peter peeked his head up to look at the controls. There was a red shutdown button and he hit it so hard he would have broken the board.

Tony looked at the hole in the wall in shock before standing up. Then a chuckle erupted from his lips. He couldn’t help it. It turned into a fit of laughter.

Peter was a little shocked, why is he laughing. He made his suit go haywire and could’ve killed them both. Peter gripped his hair. “I-I’m so sorry… I thought it was-” Peter wanted to punch himself in the gut.

“Stop apologizing kid, you did exactly what I wanted you to do. With the new power set up for the suit, this model can’t contain that surge. It resorted to the quickest way to release pressure, shooting rockets.”

“Wait, so… I didn’t ruin your project. Right?”

Tony came over and put a hand on his shoulder. “You did good kid. I am really glad to have found you as an intern. Now that watch thing. Where are you at with it?”

Peter was still looking at the damage before his question brought his attention back to Tony. “Uh, the watch… Right! I have done a complete redesign and the ultra… Oh shoot, it’s still sitting in the intern lab waiting for me.``

“FRIDAY, bring Peter Parker’s intern project as soon as possible.”

“On it now sir, his project will arrive in 3 minutes.”

Tony straightened his jacket and looked at Peter. “Where are you at with it. What do you have to finish?” Tony raised his sleeves.

Peter smiled and relaxed, he felt a type of comfort. Being able to tinker to his heart with someone on the same level of brain capacity. 

FRIDAY quickly was able to get the things down to Tony’s lab. Peter showed Tony the watch and everything he had left to do. “If you get started on this now you could be done in an hour or so. Are you allowed to stay past time. I don’t mind letting you stay here.”

“I have to let my aunt know. Thank you for letting me stay here, in your lab. Also for letting me finish this project.” Pater smiled.

Tony smirked and watched Peter get started on the rest of his project. “Got high hopes for you kid.” He stated in a hushed tone.

About an hour later Peter grabbed the final screw to seal the back. He reached for the screwdriver and it wasn’t where he put it, or on the table. Peter looked to find it on the ground. He groaned and was about to reach for it when another hand intervened. 

Peter looked up and saw Mr. Stark holding the screwdriver while sipping on his coffee. “Are you done with that thing?” He stood with one hand in his pocket and the other holding his daily caffeine.

“Yep!” Peter put in the final screw. “Voala, it is officially completed. The Parker watch is done.”

Tony laughed. “We’ll work on the name in a bit. I want you to stay a little after on Monday if you can Mr. Parker. I’ll need to talk to you after your internship.”

“Of course, are you working on that new suit model tonight?”

Tony raised an eyebrow before his smile grew even bigger. “Yeah, and what did you want to know?”

“Well… it’s just. I was hoping I could help or watch while you finished it. The fabrication of metal armor is amazing. I have red articles that your suit penitraits bullets, that means that it is a hard steel or titanium-alloy. How it-” 

Tony put his hands on Peter’s shoulders. “Hey, Hey, Hey. Slow down kid. That’s fine. I can probably use an extra hand anyway.” Tony chuckles and looks down at peter. He really was a younger version of him. So ambitious to learn more.

That night the two were in the lab working for two more hours on an iron man design that can contain a high amount of energy that the arc reactor doesn’t run. It consisted of cheesy jokes, sarcastic comments, and a lot of science talk. 

“What is he still doing here?” Pepper walked through the doors and around all the junk the two have sprawled across the floor. 

“Uh…” Peter started.

“I asked him to. Don’t worry, his aunt knows and we have made a lot of progress on mine and his projects.” Tony said lifting up his goggles.

Pepper smirked and looked at her board. “That’s alright. I had Happy get a car ready. Peter, Happy will drive you home whenever you are ready. I don’t want you walking home this late at night.”

“Thank you Ms. Potts.” He watched her leave the room. 

“Happy has some of that burn cream in the car for you. Also, something I found a little odd. Spiderman suffered injuries like those the other day.” Tony said pointing at his arms

“Yeah, I watched the news report. Such a funny coincidence.” Peter weakly laughed, “Uh, Mr. Stark, thank you so much for letting me stay and work on this stuff. It was really eye opening. I have two questions though.”

“Alright” Tony sat down. “Shoot.”

“Okay, question one: Those rockets that shot off earlier, when the suits system overloaded, what explosive powder did they contain. Whatever it was left only traces, but as you can see. It left a huge hole in the wall.”

“The rockets, we used Ammonium Nitrate. The chemical is banned by public use due to the explosive energy. Stark Industrie went through a two year span after I quit making weapons to legalize it back in our arsonal of explosives. Large amounts can lead grenade type explosions.”

“Jeez. At least those rockets didn’t contain anymore… Anyway, question two: This one is kind of off topic, but I have a party I was invited to and it is by someone who doesn’t like me. Should I go? I feel like I’ll be out of place if I do.”

Tony stood up at that question and rested his hands in his pockets. 

“That’s up to you. What do you value Peter? People’s opinions or your own morals?” 

Peter looked up. That was a really personal question. “Uh, my morals I guess.” 

“Then don’t go. It’s as simple as that. Don’t let other people guide your path. If I’d let other people guide me, Iron Man wouldn’t exist.”

Peter could help, but think of it as fatherly advice. “Thank you Mr. Stark.” 

“Don’t forget to stay afterwards on Monday!”

“Yes Sir!” Peter smiled. With that he grabbed his things and left the building.

Tony picked up some snippets and went to his shower and cleaned himself off. Afterwards the billionaire made his way to the lounge and poured himself a small glass of Delmore 62. 

“May I please have one as well?” Ms. Potts walked in and gently ran her nails across his back. 

“Oh my, she has said please. My mind is blown.” They both smiled before a quick cheers. 

“So for our date tomorrow, what do you have planned?” Pepper asked, continuing to rub his upper back.

Tony placed a hand on the small of her back. “Like I said, that’s for me to know a for you-”

“Sir, I am sorry to interrupt, but James Rhodes has requested to see you. He has an update on the underlying threats.” FRIDAY’s voice rang throughout the room. 

“Why does he always know about these things before I do? I’m sorry Pep. We can continue this later on.” Tony winked before straightening his clothes. 

"I know Tony." She smiled.

“Bring him up.” Tony raised his voice. This stupid threat just ruined a lovely moment with his girlfriend.

Rodney came through the elevator doors and looked at Tony. “You can’t put this off or dismiss this Tony. If you do it’ll-” 

“Rodney stop! What is going on?” Tony was actually concerned. His best friend was freaking out.

Rodney took a deep breath. “The threat… they finally attacked, and it wasn't friendly.”


	5. Chapter Five: Rising Powers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably one of the longest chapters yet, but I had so much fun writing it. I really hope you all like it. The next chapter a lot of more dynamics with come it, but this chapter has good amount of people showing some of their true colors! I hope you like it. Stay Healthy, please comment any thoughts. Thank you for the support!

**9:04pm**

Peter walked up the stairs after Happy dropped him off. May was probably in bed already. He quietly entered the apartment and shut the door behind him. He tiptoed into his room and quickly threw off his things. “My morals…” Peter looked at his dresser and faltered. His phone was blowing up with text from Ned about the Party. “It’s just a party, what’s the worst that could happen.” Going against his gut, he threw on some decent clothes and sent Ned a text that he’ll meet him there. 

In the next ten minutes Peter showed up at Flash's party. There was music blaring, kids outside, and red solo cups scattered through the whole yard. Peter smirked and walked up seeing Ned talking to some of the other decathlon members. 

“Wow, you guys were invited too?” Peter said, putting his hands in his pocket. 

Cindy raised her eyebrow and looked at Abe. “We’ve always been to Flash’s parties. You’re the only one he doesn’t like. Well, you and maybe Ned. That’s only because he’s your friend.”

“Well, Cindy. Flash invited me personally so he obviously wants me here.”

Sally came over to them. Peter never really talked to her. “Then it’s probably not because he likes you. If you don’t know Flash, he always has an ulterior motive.” 

Peter's expression flatlined. “You know I came here to have a good time. I don’t need you guys bringing me down. C’mon Ned.” 

Ned followed Peter in the large house where people were dancing and socializing. 

Someone threw a dart and Peter’s reflexes flew into action before he noticed. He caught the weapon “Watch it man.” He tossed it back to the guy before making his way to what seemed to be the dining room. The long table was used for cup pong. Every chair was out of sight. Michelle was playing against some junior jockey. 

“MJ!?” Peter shouted. She was completely sober, not one drink filtered her system. 

“Oh, hey Peter.” She bounced a ping pong ball and it landed in the final cup, some of the water sprinkled onto the table. “Victory, that's five in a row.” Her demeanor wasn’t shadowed with her usual dark humor. MJ looked at Peter, “Your turn.”

Peter saw the loser struggling to drink a large solo cup full of alcohol. “Is that-”

“That’s the punishment if you lose.” Someone in the crowd finished.

Peter situated his cups so they were in a pyramid. “MJ, I’m surprised you came.”

She had the first turn landing the ball in the back middle cup. “Yeah? I didn’t want to, but you said you were coming so…” She hesitated for a moment. “I didn’t want you to embarrass yourself.” 

Peter grabbed the ping pong ball and lightly bounced it missing the first cup by a foot. 

“I’d take it that you’ve never played before.” Mj landed the ball into another cup.

“It’s that obvious huh.” Peter bounced the ball and it landed in the back end. 

MJ smirked and rolled her eyes. “Beginners luck.”

The two kept going back and forth, MJ had two cups in front of her and Peter only had one. The boys started to cheer and support Peter and the girls did the same for MJ. There were boys that were in basketball and football that had their hands in his shoulders, cheering him on. 

MJ was up, she placed strains of her curly hair behind her ear.

“Don’t try too hard.” Peter teased.

She ignored him and went for his last cup, all the boys held their breath and watched the ball hit the rim. It bounced out and every single one of them gasped in relief.

Peter looked his senses narrowing in on the cups. He only had two left, Peter took the ping-pong ball and canceled out any other distractions. Then he threw the ball down, it bounced from the rim of the front cup into the other. 

The boys cheered, jumping up and down patting Peters back. The girls were talking to MJ trying to console her by the looks of it. The way they played the game was different than what Ned always did on Imessage, but this way just made it more fun. You also had to drink if you lost and the thought made Peter gag. 

MJ again missed his cup by a long shot, a few other boys laughed and Peter snickered. “Game over Michelle.” He bounced the ball and it landed perfectly in the cup. “Boom.” Peter smirked. MJ looked at Peter and gave up putting the ball down. 

The boys jumped, bumping Peter telling him he did a great job. Peter got to watch MJ down a whole glass of alcohol. She made the most adorable face, her nose was scrunched and her eyebrows knitted. Most wouldn’t think, but Peter thought it was the cutest thing. 

He helped her sit down, “Peter, hows it the worz did you beat mez?” Her speech was a little slurred but for the most part she was all there.

“Beginners luck.” Peter said, his spidey senses were a huge help. Being able to focus really did give him the advantage. “Here, I got to meet with someone but- Ned. Look after MJ alright.”

Peter got up and left as Ned sat down by her. Walking to the backyard Peter received high-fives and fist-bumps from multiple guys and a couple of winks from the older girls. How does one successful game get him any type of rep.

“Hey! Peter Parker!” His name rolled off of Flashes tongue and it made him cringe. 

“Hey Flash.” Peter sounded like a nervous toddler. He straightened his back to make himself taller and tried to act cool. “What’s- uh, what’s up.” Peter kept reminding himself to be cool, don’t stress it.

Flash handed him a drink. “Hey, I heard you kicked MJ’s butt in cup pong. Nice work. ”Flash finished his cup and tossed it to the side. “Have you ever had beer before?”

“Uh, no, not really.” Peter was honest. 

“Drink up, it’ll make you feel a whole lot better.”

Peter raised an eyebrow and looked at the orangish brown liquid. Peter closed his eyes and took a huge gulp. His sensitive taste intensified the burn and bitterness that filled his mouth. He struggles but manages to gulp it all down.

“That’s, um… disgusting. That actually tastes like crap.” Peter set the cup on a side table and someone else grabbed it and drank it all. “Ew” Peter muttered before continuing with Flash. 

“So, Peter.” They sat down on two folding chairs. “About the other day, why was Tony Stark talking with you? That seemed pretty cool.”

Peter knew it. Flash had a motive, just like Sally said earlier. “Nothing really, he just wanted feedback on something I created. Was wondering if he could use some of the ideas in his own invention.”

Flash looked suspicious “Yeah? Then why do you take the bus and/or train now? You used to walk home on days when we didn’t have decathlon practice.” 

“I uh-” Suddenly water was splashed onto Flash. He immediately stood up and started yelling at the perpetrator. Peter slowly got up and left. This wasn’t a good idea, why did he think this was okay. Sure he had a good time at first, but he was only there because someone was using him.

Peter left and once he was out of sight from the house he slipped on his spiderman hoodie. There were still burnt spots from the fire and his back was still in pain. His arms were fine, but after leaning over a lab bench for a day it took its toll on his spine. 

The boy’s eyes started to glisin as tears welled up in his eyes. Peter let the night air dry his eyes, he didn’t bother with a mask unless he had to do some work. Peter used his legs to gain momentum on every swing. It wasn’t until he reached a building right next to Stark Tower that he stopped.

“Should have listened to Mr. Stark. Dammit, stop being such a baby Peter.” He told himself. Ahh, I’m just-” Peter ran hand through his hair and looked at the sky. “I’m sick of feeling unimportant…” He glanced at the Tower. “That internship, that makes me feel like I’m worth something. Adrik, Happy, Mr. Stark. Even Ms. Potts are so encouraging. Can't forget about Ned and MJ. Keep your morals, just like Mr. Stark said.” Peter smiled before a soft tingle broke his trance. 

Peter touched his neck as the hairs on his body stood up. When his back was to the tower he felt the most reaction. He put on his mask and put both hands forward shooting a web and slinging himself toward the direction.

His sense grew more alert as he closed in. Peter found himself in more of an open compound area. There was concrete everywhere for cars and trucks to drive in and out. There was a fence surrounding the place, but it looked abandoned or unkept. Peter’s since we're telling him to keep his distance, but that usually means it’s worth looking into. 

“Whatever this is, it’s probably not good.” Peter easily jumped the fence and made his way to the warehouse. The windows were covered in dust, a couple were boarded up as well. “Whoever is here is hiding something but what?” There was muffled sounds from inside. “I need to get in but-” He looked up and saw an open window at the top. “Bingo!” 

Peter made quick work getting up and slowly maneuvered his shoulders and hips to fit through the widow. It looked like he was in a top storage area. Peter saw the great and picked it up setting it to the side as quietly as possible. He moved his goggles from his eyes to get a better visual of the room under. 

It was large and contained a few machines that any factory would hold. There were multiple bags spread across the ground. “Cael! Have you created the formula yet?”

Peter decided to stay where he was. Best not to get caught when no one else was there. This also seemed like a lot bigger than he thought. Everything in his body was dilated trying to absorb every detail.

“The bomb powder, you and Vex brought the chemical you needed right.” A tall, well built spoke as he took off his coat. His hair was black and cut short.

“Yeah, but a large amount was used on the previous attack.”

Peter looked at the boy who was called Cael. Glasses, thin, the guy from the train. Peter knew he was suspicious, and he even gave him a pencil. “Earlier attack?” Peter whispered. 

“The one on Stark’s field workers? The ones collecting materials for the company usage, right.”

Cael looked to be only a couple years older than Peter, how was he involved in this. “Yes, Yakov. I also was hoping we could achieve something else. There was a high school intern Tony Stark recently hired.” 

Peter’s body tensed up. How did they know about him?

The other member walked in. He was probably Vex. Huge guy he also saw earlier. “The kid’s name is Peter Parker. Crazy smart he-”

Peter leaned in a bit too much and slipped. The Spiderman was of course able to catch himself, but once he slipped the room echoed with noise.

All three assailants looked up and found Spiderman standing on the ceiling. “Oh, hey guys. Was wondering if you wanted me to hire a maid, the dust around here is impeccable.” Peter joked before landing on the ground. None of them were armed, he planned on quickly webbing them and leaving.

The real big bald guy Vex was his top priority. “Hey baldi, over here. Catch me if you can.” Peter teased jumping around from place to place. Then he webbed both the man's arms to the wall immobilizing him.

“One down two to go-” Peter was cut short as the man named Yakov pulled out a weapon. “Okay, so you are armed, that makes my job a little more interesting.”

“You don’t know what you’re getting into.” Yakov said, cocking the weapon. He aimed it at Peter and fired. 

Peter dodged before the mysterious bullet hit him. The beam behind him wasn’t so lucky. When the bullet hit the beam it sent a quick electric shock before dying down. “It electrocutes them.” 

Peter looked at the younger boy and quickly webbed him down. He wasn’t a threat, but he couldn’t be interfering with the current task. He was swinging around the old compound trying to dodge the man and his bullets. 

Spiderman looked at the attic trap door and was focused more on leaving then trying to get anything out of Yakov. Peter swung low and aimed a web for him, Peter missed and felt a sharp pain rack his body. 

Peter was on his knees in seconds, his back felt like it was being ripped apart. Spiderman looked at his shaking hands and then at the man standing in front of him. His gaze darkened, the figure was much larger than Peter. The pain he was in didn’t help with his confidence against the man. “Whoever you are, and whatever you think you’re doing. You will regret it. Don’t mess with things you don’t understand.”

Peter’s senses spiked when the man raised his gun again. His eyes widened and he instinctively shot a web at the man’s face. Peter stumbled to his feet and swung himself out of there as soon as possible. As he slung into the attic, Peter found the window and got himself out of there as soon as possible. 

Once he gained distance and was back into the city Peter took off his costume and walked. “How did they know me, and the internship has been completely confidencial…” he looked up at the night sky and then his watch. “1:52am… I should get home in case May wakes up.” He mumbled. Then an unsettling feeling that lied in his chest didn’t go away the whole way home, and it probably wouldn’t go away for a while.

\-----------

**Stark Industries**

**8:47pm**

Rhodney came through the elevator doors and looked at Tony. “You can’t put this off or dismiss this Tony. If you do it’ll-” 

“Rodney stop! What is going on?” Tony was actually concerned. His best friend was freaking out.

Rodney took a deep breath. “The threat… they attacked.”

Tony set his glass down. “They what? I’ve been here all night. No one ha-”

“Tony, they attacked the materials field. Everyone was severely injured and three were killed. They placed a bomb down there and it was… it was bad Tones.” Rodney said solemnly.

“How did you know this was the threat? Also, this was confidential information, no one should’ve known the location of the materials team other than Pepper, yourself, and I.” Tony raised his voice, there was mild disbelief and anger in his tone.

“They left one person with a message. They were the only one who suffered little to no injury. The message we recovered was this- 

_ Dear Tony Stark, you may have guessed that we aren't playing around anymore. You should have expected the worst to come. The pain you have caused and continue to bring must come to an end. We will be the ones to stop you and your merciless ways. Yours Truly- The Ultimate Threat.” _

The three that were in the room stood in complete silence. Tony curled in hands into tight fists. He sat down on the couch in the lounge and placed his head in his hands. 

“3 people died…” Tony whispered. “It's my fault…” He sat there for a good five minutes thinking about the lives he ended. Tony tried to get away from the life of killing and now… he caused more. He ran a hand through his hair. “Rhodney, I will deal with this tomorrow morning. Go home, get some rest. I-I, actually send me the information about everything through a confidential email. I don’t want the company to go into panic mode about this. Pep, I’m going to bed first.”

Tony went upstairs and didn’t sleep. He sat there kept awake by the nightmare he experienced. Pepper came in later surprised he was still awake. “Tony… you need to go to bed.” She sat beside him.

Tony was silent and turned to her. “I-I can’t. If I had dealt with this problem instead of pushing it away, this wouldn’t have happened. How long before these people target you or me. I can’t, I can’t let that happen… Not again.” 

Pepper looked at his and cupped his face with her hands. “Look at me. Tony, I’ll be okay… we’ll be okay.” She gave him a kiss. “Now go to bed, get some rest before tomorrow.” She smiled, one that never ceased to impress Tony. “We have a long day ahead of us.” She let go, turned the light off and got under the covers.

Tony tried to sleep that night, despite everything Pepper told him, he couldn’t. Flashbacks of the things he did a long time ago. Everytime he closed his eyes for any longer than a blink, his body went into panic mode. After two hours of sleeping Tony slipped out of bed and made his way down to the lab. 

He grabbed a cup of coffee on his way and looked at the suit him and Peter worked on earlier. He took a sip of his brew before setting it down. Then he started to work focused on nothing else from 3am to 7am. 

“FRIDAY, if Pepper asks, I have been up since 6am alright.” 

“Got it sir.” The A.I. replied. 

“I don’t need her worrying about me.” He mumbled while tightening a screw on the helmet. He tried it on to see if the modifications worked. 

“Alright, boot up!” The helmet lit up and showed weaponry ammo, and system settings. Good. FRIDAY, scan the room and tell me what you see.” 

The A.I. started to list things. “... a car jack, Pepper Potts.” Tony looked at her through the helmet. He took it off and grinned. “You’re down here earlier, it’s like 7:15.

“I’m usually up by 6:30 every morning.” Pepper laughed. “I came down here to get you. We have a lot of work to do on the events of last night.” 

Tony’s face hardened. “Yeah, Let’s… let’s get on it.” He followed her upstairs.

About an hour into their research Rhodney came in with two other scientists and a former worker of Stark industries. Tony looked up, one of them looked familiar. “I’m glad you’re here.” He told Rodney.

Tony held out his hand. “You are taking an internship right now aren't you. You were there when I was checking on Peter.”

“The pleasure is all mine, I am Adrik Collarman. Rodney gave me a call after he found evidence of my specialty at the sight. I used to work in the weapons department, switched over to chemicals after the change and then moved to only a paid internship. I work from home other than that. It’s an honor to help in any way I can.”

Tony smiled “Perfect, I am guessing that Rodney explained the situation. Get to work. We’re burning daylight.” He went over to his computer. “There was a video…” Tony said looking at his computer. 

“Yes sir, the time stamp indicates that this was taken at the time of the attack, 5:38pm. There appears to be two assailants who are unidentifiable at this time.” Friday said, pulling up the video.

“Play it.” Tony said.

_ It scrolled an area where bodies were spread. Many people were in their uniforms that read Stark Industries across the back. Some were bloodied and others just groaned and laid in pain. A man in all black walked across the screen and put his shoulders on the one healthy soul and whispered in her ear. The worker sniffled, she was terrified. She took off her safety goggles to wipe her eye and she took the paper given to her.  _

_ “Dear Tony Stark, you may have guessed that we aren't playing around anymore. You should have expected the worst to come. The pain you have caused and continue to bring must come to an end. We will be the ones to stop you and your merciless ways. Yours Truly- The Ultimate Threat.” _

_ She choked up. “I’m sorry” She mouthed before being pushed down by the man in black. “All will come in due time Stark.”  _

The video blacked out and turned off. 

“FRIDAY can you track the original sending point?”

“I cannot sir, the point seems to be non existent.” 

Tony tsked, “The destroyed it or rerouted it until the system claimed it impossible. They’re smart, but I’m better. Bring up the video to where the man first appeared.”

Tony slowly tore apart the video getting glimpses of the case. Adrik had come over with some information he found himself. “Sir, I found the information regarding the hack. They passed through FRIDAY using their own fire way protection system. They used FRIDAY to get past FRIDAY.” Adrik said, holding up the papers. 

Tony took them. “So they’re smart… but not smart enough. I found a few things. The assailant in the video appeared to be a male in their 30’s or 40’s. Due to their build and voice tone they are most likely in their 30’s.”

“That is over half of the city Tony.” Pepper commented.

“You’re right, but that still narrows it down, the male is from a middle eastern country due to his accent and skin color. FRIDAY said that Saudi-arabia or Egypt would be an accurate call. Now that narrows down our suspects by 2/3rds.” 

Tony became quiet and looked out the window. “They used my weapons…”

Pepper and Adrik looked confused. “The test results that were sent had used Ammonium Nitrate. That is a banned product, also there was a serial number on a scrap in the video… it matched the one that was in the previous threat.” Tony stood up.

Pepper looked at him. “I think we should be done for the day. You all head home to your families. Thank you for the hard work.”

They all gathered their things and left. “Thanks Pep.”

“Sir, you have an incoming call from Natasha Romanoff.” FRIDAY said.

Tony lifted a brow. “Romanoff, what does she need? Pick it up.”

Her face appeared on screen, her red hair was longer than he last saw it. “What’s up Romanoff.” 

_ “You will never change. This is serious, I need to stay at the Tower along with the team.”  _

Tony laughed. “Wow, this is the first time I think you have asked- no, that you warned me. You didn’t ask.”

_ Tony, our systems were hacked, we believe there is something big going on. We need your tech to figure it out.” _

“Who is all, the Avenger is kind of a big thing you know.”

_ “Clint, Steve-” _

“Nope, I don’t want him here.” Tony said sarcastically.

_ “Clint, STEVE, and Bruce.” Thor has business in Asgard that he had to deal with. We might be there for a while.” _

Tony sighed. “The Tower is the avengers headquarters. I have rooms for everyone. It’s not a big deal.”

_ “Great, we'll be arriving on Monday afternoon. You’ll have the weekend to prepare.”  _ Then she ended the call.

Tony sighed and looked at Pepper. “You still want to have that date tonight?”

She smiled and held his hand “I’m not sure why I wouldn’t”

**Monday 4:15**

Peter couldn't stop thinking about the events of late Friday night. Spiderman had to be more vigilant in case they came looking for him. Peter also has to figure out what is going on. His back was doing a lot better, especially with they stuff Mr. Stark gave him. Mr. Stark, he is in danger as well. He wasn’t sure if he should tell him or not. It’s not like they’re close he probably would just think it's nonsense. 

He arrived and got his project from the W.I.P. (Work In Progress) room. Adrik was gone so he didn't really have anyone else he knew to talk to. He was pretty much finished with his watch all he had to do was give it a name. “The Parker Tracker, Help Finder, Self Finder…” He gripped his hard and banged his head on the desk.

“What about self-help…” Peter overheard someone say his head popped up. “Self-Help watch! Simple and easy to remember.” He quickly wrote it down and then used the computer and material printer to imprint the name on the wristband. “Finally!” Peter forgot everything else as he admired his hard work.

He sat down and tested everything making sure it worked. “The mainframe is… ” He tweaked it a bit. “Perfect!” Peter stood up and looked at the equipment he created. “I hope Mr. Stark likes it…” Then the thought of what happened before creep into his mind. “No, you can’t tell him. There is no way any person would know stuff like that without having superpowers-”

“Woah, what's this about superpowers?”

Peter swung around to find Adrik. “Oh my gosh, I-I thought, I didn’t know you were here. He got nervous, I am just uh writing. Yep, we have to write fictional stories in class and I am trying to come up with ideas for the main protagonist.” His tone grew more confident with every word. Good excuse.

Adrik smiled and rolled his eyes. “I just came in to grab something. I have some work with my other job…”

“Your other job? What do you do?” Peter set his device down.

“Oh, yeah. I do a lot of financial organizing. I work from home most of the time. I just forgot a few things I need here so I came to pick them up. I have to get going, nice talkin’ to ya.”

Peter watched him leave. “That was odd.”

**6:30pm**

“It’s time…” Peter grabbed his watch and went to the main desk. “Ma’am, do you know where Mr.Stark is? I was supposed to meet him.”

She looked up. “You must be Mr. Parker. He is currently… in the lounge right now. Here is a pass so you can get up there.” She gave him a little card.

Peter grabbed and made his way up listening to classic elevator music. Every floor that led him up made his heart tense up. Excitement or dread, he wasn’t sure but it made him go from heel to toe. 

Peter scanned his card and walked into the room. He was staring at his invention. “Mr Stark I finally fin-” He looked up and what he saw shocked him and almost made him trip over his own feet. He immediately straightened up. “Y-you’re the Avengers!”

Everyone was sitting in there. Black Widow, Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, and The Hulk. “I-I”

Mr.Stark turned around and looked at Peter. “Kid… oh, sorry about them. Some stuff came up so they’ll be in the Tower for a while.” Peter looked at them. Black Widow waved and smiled. It helped Peter not feel so tense. Tony got a seat for Peter right in the lounge. He took a seat across from him.

“Alright, let me see what you got.” Mr. Stark asked, waving his hand at the watch.

Peter felt like a million eyes were looking at him. Why did the Avengers have to be here? “Um… it called it The Self-Help Watch. An invention of many possibilities.” Why was he trying to market the tool? “I’m sorry that sounded weird.”

“Keep going.” Captain America learned in looking at it. 

Tony glared at him. “Keep going kid, pretend they’re not here.” 

Peter wiped the sweat that built on his hands from his pants and took a deep breath. “The watch is a fashionable piece of ware that can provide basic necessities like the time or daily reminders that you can set up through the interface, but you also have everything you need to protect yourself. The Self-Help Watch is a revolutionary device because of its ability to sense fear and depart it from adrenaline or excitement. This watch will set off an alarm to everyone in the surrounding area. The number of emergencies will appear, this will make sure more people get the help they deserve in a solo crisis. The Self-Help Watch.” He held it out to Tony.

Tony took it and smiled. “Exactly what I expected from you. One of the few interns that I believe can make a marketed device.” He looked at the Avengers. 

Peter looked down so bashful his face was getting so hot. 

“I like it, a lot. How old are you kid?” 

Peter looked up and saw Black Widow speaking. 

“I-I’m 15.” 

Her eyes widened just slightly. She leaned back and looked at Tony. “I think you found a keeper Tony. He’s just like you.”

Peter looked at Tony and then the group. 

“Mr. Parker, do you want to run this item under the Stark Industries name? I can provide you details on your part if you accept.”

Peter was sitting there with his mouth agape. “I thought you needed me for something Mr. Stark. I just wanted to sho-” 

“This is what I wanted to ask you. So what's your answer? Just know that you’ll be doing a lot more work with me, which might include weekends.”

Peter was shocked, this was probably the biggest breakthrough ever. This will also be the biggest help to Spiderman if this was on the market. “Of Course!” Peter shouted standing up. He quickly covered his mouth and looked around the room. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have shouted.” He could barely contain his excitement.


	6. Chapter Six: Party Favors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this a crazy chapter so I hope you're ready! I just want to give a special thanks to Lansfics7 once again. She is amazing and is a much better writer than me. She has a story I have have been reading calls "I Will Carry You" Its super good and has a crap tone of Peter Parker and Tony Stark Father son stuff. It's amazing. If you like longer chapters, it is also a good reason to go a check it out. Anyway I really hope you like the chapter! Also, it is the longest chapter and a lot is happening so please don't bail out. The ending is really crazy!

“This weekend? Well where is it?” Tony was on the talking with a particular teenager 

_ “Yeah, the State Decathlon is in Washington DC, I was going to tell you Monday, but the Avengers were there and I kind of forgot.”  _

“So you waited until Thursday to tell me. Okay, well the event this weekend is the launch party for your watch.”

_ “I know Mr. Stark. I would like to be there, but right now I don’t have a way from Washington to… well, wherever the party is. The team isn’t leaving until like 5 or 6.” _

Tony paced around the room as Pepper watched his every move as FRIDAY had the call playing out loud. She decided to offer some input.

“You could drive him, you know. The party doesn’t launch until 7pm. That way he can still spend the night there tomorrow as well as make it to the party Saturday.”

He stared at her with a blank look. “You are always so right, that's why I love you.”

“ _ What… uh thats-”  _ Peter said a little freaked out.

“Not you! I was talking to Pepper. If I talk to your aunt and the school, would I be allowed to pick you up and drive you back here for the event?”

There was silence on the other line. “ _ Yeah, May said it would probably be fine. She just wants to have a talk with you, personally. Don’t call her, meet her somewhere. Seriously though, don’t mess with her. What you said about Pepper when she’s angry, May is just like that.” _

Pepper’s eyes widened and she looked at Tony. “We’ll talk later.”

Tony turned his back to her. “Kid! Anyway, I’ll find time to talk with your aunt. To mention, I don’t think I’ve ever met her before.”

_ “Yeah, I guess you haven’t. Are you free for dinner. We can go to-” _

“Dinner? Ah, yeah. Let’s go downtown to Eleven Madison Park. Really nice place, my treat. Wear something decent, like a polo or something. Whatever you got kid, tell your aunt to dress up as well. Your decathlon is done at 5:00 right. I should be there around 6:00. Give you time to get ready. I’ll see you in a bit, end call.” FRIDAY hung up the phone.

“Hey Pep, I need to speak with the team. Don’t wait up for me.” He went to the elevator. 

“You can’t avoid this talk Tony!” She shouted as the doors closed. 

Tony arrived in the work out area. Natasha and Clint were boxing, Nat obviously winning. Steve was using a punching bag and Bruce was nowhere to be found. “Hey, I won’t be here tonight to do research on the hack you guys are dealing with.”

Nat stopped and looked at him. “Why? Where are you going? We’ve almost cracked an initial location.”

“I know, we can work on it tomorrow. It’ll be Friday, I don’t have anything going on.” Tony said opening up the door. 

“Wait, so why are you ditching us tonight?” Clint added as he grabbed his water bottle.

“I think I might know.” Natasha leaned on the boxing ring and looked at both Clint and Steve. “I’m guessing it starts with p and ends with eter, and what does that spell?”

“Peter.” Steve finished her sentence. “You are investing a lot into that kid, you know. You rarely ever sponsor interns' inventions through your company. Any other intern would kill to get the opportunity that kid has.”

Tony looked at the three. “He earned it. Peter’s a good kid with a hell of a brain, would be a shame to not let him utilize it in any way he sees fit.” He left without another word.

______

In his room he had led Zeppelin playing on his speaker as he got ready. Peter puts on a pair of Ben’s old khakis and slips on one of his blue polos. He looked in his mirror and bobbed his head to the beat. He combed down any loose hairs. He grabbed some cologne that sat a collected dust. “I think May bought this for me two years ago.” He laughed as he sprayed it. It smelled old and strong. “And now I know why I have never worn it.”

He went to the living room. “May, you almost ready?” Peter shouted while tying his shoes. 

She walked out of her room. “How does it look?” She was wearing a black dress with small colorful designs lining the edges. She had a black pair of heels and little to no make-up. “Too much? Not enough?”

Peter smiled. “I think it is just the right amount. What about me?” Peter pointed at himself. 

“As handsome as ever.” She placed her hands on his shoulders. “That smell, that doesn’t smell good. Wear a different cologne next time.” 

Peter watched her dumbfounded, she grabbed her purse. Peter grabbed his phone and left the apartment with her.

Once they got down a black Audi was waiting for them. Tony got out of the passenger seat. And motioned for May to get in.

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure.” Tony shut the door and got in the backseat with Peter.

“You look lovely.” Happy said looking at May. 

“Why thank you… um, Peter put your seatbelt on.” She said distracting herself from the comment.

Peter strapped his seat belt on. “Yes ma’am.” 

Tony looked at May and then Peter. “Your aunt is unusually attractive, how old is she?” He whispered in a hushed tone.

Peter whipped his head to Tony. “That’s weird, stop it. I can tell Pepper, I have access to every floor with the pass you gave me.” Peter threatened, he crossed his arms and looked at Tony. “I also thought you were driving? Why is Happy?” 

Tony leaned back. “This restaurant has some of the best wine. I’m not going to drive with alcohol still in my system.”

“Good point.” Peter looked out the window. They arrived within’ 20 minutes. The four of them sat down in the seats that Tony reserved for them. It was a fine table with a white cloth. They had two forks, a spoon and a knife. “Why are there two?” Peter questioned.

“One is for the salad and the other is for your meal.” Tony explained as the waitress came over. 

“Hello! I will be your server today is there anything I can start you off with?” She asked.

“Bethany, get me and Happy our usual. What would you guys like? Any appetizers, something to drink?” 

Peter curled in his lips. “I’ll have lemonade I guess.”

May smiled. “I’ll have a Brachetto d’Acqui please.”

Peter looked at her. “I didn’t know you liked wine?”

“I drink it after you go to bed honey.” May said squeezing the inside of his shoulder. 

“Get us a basket of bread to start.” Tony said before she confirmed everyone's order and left. “So May, what I wanted to talk to you about was seeing if I would be allowed to drive Peter from Washington back here for the launch party Saturday?”

She fiddled with a napkin before tucking hair behind her ear. “It’s already making me nervous, Peter going to such a big event and me not being there. I would join, but I have to travel for work and I leave tomorrow and won’t be home until Monday night. I hate leaving him alone for even the weekend.”

“May-” Peter started.

“It is only a 4 hour drive Mrs. Parker. I will drive a lesser looking vehicle to avoid any hijacking.” Tony spoke in a calm tone as if he was trying to calm her down.

I will make sure to send him home right after and make sure nothing happens to him.

Peter looked at Happy as they spoke. “They’re talking like I’m not even here. It’s humiliating.” 

Happy looked at him and chuckled. “Get used to it. Being with a guy like Tony, you get that all the time.”

Peter watched the two talk. Once the bread was at their table Peter grabbed a piece, buttered it, and ate it within’ a minute. 

“He eats so much, but never gains a pound. To be honest, Peter I think you’ve lost weight ever since your appetite spiked.” May said, realizing how weird it was. 

Well being Spiderman really does know how to burn calories. “Well, in school we have been doing some intense fitness training.” He was getting pretty good at lying. Tony didn’t look convinced. The only person he couldn’t fool.

The waitress came and got all of our orders, the prices on the menu were out of this world. Peter didn’t want to be rude and order something super expensive so he got something on the cheaper side. This was about $62 for his meal alone.

“So May, is it alright if I go with Mr. Stark?”

May simply nodded before she started up a conversation with Happy.

“Seriously! Thank you May!” Peter looked like a total child as he squealed and hugged his aunt. “You’re the best!” 

They all ordered about a half hour later their food arrived at their table. “So, Peter. This decathlon team, how is that going? How do you guys choose who participates in the State competition?” He stuck his fork into the scallops he ordered.

“Well, we have competitions and everyone participated in at least one round. Then at the end we take everyone's correct score average. Then along with that average we have a seperate quiz that we use. Then our teacher will use that information to determine who gets in. Every school has a different way of doing it.” Peter cut into his steak and took a huge bite.

Tony chuckled. “So who was all picked to do the State competition?”

“Well, me of course. My friend MJ, Ned, Abe, Cindy… and Flash. I don’t like him.” Peter took a drink of his lemonade.

“Was that the guy with the party?”

“... yeah” Peter felt guilt sink over him. He went quiet and continued to eat his food. 

“Peter?” Tony looked as the kid’s whole demeanor changed. “Peter, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing… I’ll be right back.” Peter got up and went to the bathroom. 

“What was that all about?” May asked.

“All I did was mention…” Tony thought about his reaction. May probably didn’t know about it. “One of his friends. I’m going to check on him.”

Tony got up and waited outside the bathroom to not be weird. “Hey Pete!” He piped as soon as Peter walked out.

Peter slightly jumped before taking a deep breath. “What?” His voice was stern and stiff.

“You have something to tell me?”

“No. Nothing happened, why would I need to tell you anything?”

Tony laughed. “Kid, you have lied to me so many times now it is pretty obvious. You’re not very good at it. I know you lied about why you made the watch, I know you lied about why you didn’t want to do the internship, your burns from last week, and now this. What is going on with you?” 

Peter stood frozen. The only people who have ever lectured him like this were Ben and May. He had to cover it up, he couldn’t lie, but Mr. Stark could not find out about Spiderman. “I went to the party last week!” Peter blurted out.

Tony was stoic for a couple of seconds before he started to chuckle.

Peter scrunched his face. “It’s not funny! You told me not to and I still did. Aren't you upset that I disobeyed or like didn’t listen to you.”

“Disobeyed? Wow, you make it sound like I’m your Dad. No, I’m laughing because I figured that you would still go. Every kid wants to fit in, but I’m guessing you learned a lesson and that is why you’re feeling guilty. Am I right?”

Peter crossed his arms on how right he was, he hesitated. “Kinda, yeah.”

Tony put his arm on Peter’s shoulders. “Let’s finish up our food. If you still want to talk we’ll have the whole four hour drive on Saturday to chat.” 

Peter gained a sense of comfort and trust when Tony told him that. It put a smile on his face. “Thank you Mr. Stark. I’d like that.” 

_________

**Friday 8:45am**

“Ned, this was strict Spider-Man business. I can be there in like 10 minutes. Just stall them a little longer.

“Dude, you have to give me every detail because MJ won’t stop nagging me.” Ned spit out. “Alright see you in a few.”

“Thanks man.” Peter put his phone in his sweatpant pocket and zipped it up so it wouldn’t fall out. Peter was lucky that the car was only in town. Rather than on the highway. 

**A Half-Hour Ago**

Peter had all of his stuff for the trip he loaded it into the bus before school started. “Hey MJ, Ned.” He bro hugged Ned and fist bumped MJ. 

“So are you ready for the trip? I heard that if we make it to Nationals it is also in Washington.”

Peter cocks an eyebrow. “That stinks we don’t get to go anywhere new? Why are you happy about that?” 

“I’m not, I just thought you should know.” She walked ahead.

“Way to bum me out. Jeez.” Peter got an alert on his phone. “What the-” He pulled up the live news report to see if anything was happening. 

“What is it?” 

Peter told him to be quiet so he could listen.

_ “There is a vehicle running down Main Street. The vehicle contains two children and what appears to be their mother. The car breaks are believed to be broken. We ask that pedes-”  _

Peter doesn’t even think before he runs the opposite way and swings himself into the air. In the process he was pulling on his suit. He didn’t like being this careless with his identity, but this was a dire moment. Peter swung onto main street and saw the black van speeding down the road. A couple of blocks down he saw a red light turn green and cars starting to cross. “Shoot!”

Peter shot two webs at once and pulled giving himself more momentum. He had to get in front. He focused on speed rather than smoothness. Peter let go of his last web a little late. He shot a web toward the ground propelling himself into the ground. Peter shot another web to catch himself and used the previous moment to land in the street.

Peter put his hands out and caught the car right before it hit a bus. Peter's chest was in pain, it took most of the initial impact. “Dang that hurt.” Peter took a deep breath. 

Before he could leave and little boys got out of the car and hugged Spider-Man’s leg. “Thank you Spider-Man!” Peter smiled and ruffled the kid’s hair. The kid let go and Peter took the opportunity to zip out of there. 

His phone buzzed. Peter answered it. “What Ned?

“Everyone wants to know where you are.” 

“Ned, this is strict Spider-Man business. I can be there in like 10 minutes. Just stall them a little longer.

“Dude, you have to give me every detail because MJ won’t stop nagging me.” Ned spit out. “Alright see you in a few.”

“Thanks man.” Peter put his phone in his sweatpant pocket and zipped it up so it wouldn’t fall out. Peter was lucky that the car was only in town. Rather than on the highway. 

Peter stepped into an alley and quickly took off his suit and shoved it in his back-pack that he has had with him the whole time. Peter sprinted to the school and stood in front of the bus and he slipped his jacket over his T-shirt. “Let’s go!”

Mr. Harrigton smiled. “Peter, you’re here! Let’s go. On the bus everyone.” 

Peter sat and Flash made sure to sit right in front of him. There was enough room for everyone to have their own seat. He grabbed his pillow that he had on there before and leaned against it ready for the long ride.

“Spider-Man is amazing. So cool.”

Peter cocked an eyebrow and peeked over the seat. Flash was watching a compilation someone made of the Spider-Man videos.

Peter held back a laugh while sinking back into his seat. “If he only knew.”

The rest of the trip was boring. They answered practice questions or slept, it was calm. Flash didn’t antagonize anyone which was a first. About 15 minutes from their hotel Peter looked at his buzzing phone. The screen read  _ Mr. Stark. _

“Eek!” Peter went to the back of the bus and answered. 

“Hey, Mr. Stark. Wh-Whats up?”

“Just checking up on you. What time does your thing start tomorrow anyway?”

Peter looked out the window. “It’s not bad. We just arrived in Washington and are making our way to the hotel right now. Our event starts at noon. It should be over around 1-1:30.”

“Good, Good.” Mr. Stark replied.

Peter heard a loud noise in the background. “Are- Are you driving?” 

“Yeah, I’m actually going to finalize everything for your event tomorrow.”

Peter hated how he said it was HIS event. Made it feel too self-centered. “Thank you for doing this Mr. Stark. I really appreciate it, no one has ever done something like this for me before.” 

MJ walked back to where Peter was. “Hey, we are about to-”

Peter put his hand up. “Thank you Mr. Stark. We are getting ready to get off so I have to let you go.” 

“Alright, see you tomorrow, kid.” Tony said before hanging up.

Peter put his phone back into his pocket. He looked at MJ, sorry about that. He looked off and saw her mouth agape. 

“Peter, you were just talking to Tony Stark.” MJ quickly changed her demeanor back to its usual self. “Is it because of the internship?”

Peter perked up and smiled. “No, actually it was about my product.” 

MJ eyebrows knitted. “Product? What do you mean? Most interns don’t have the number of the owner of the company.” 

Peter passed by her to get off. “Exactly what it sounds like. I can explain later.” 

The rest of the day the group went around went to the Washington Monument, the Smithsonian, and then the Lincoln Memorial. Around 9 they returned to the hotel and were told to get to bed.

Peter and Ned shared the same room. Peter lied down in his bed and Ned came out of the bathroom. “Alright so you have told me about everything that’s been going on lately. You haven’t told me about any of your Spiderman stuff since your internship started.” 

Peter sat up. Peter was thinking about the car this morning, the fire last week and little things he did like catching shoplifters and petty thieves. “To be honest there hasn't been-” Then he completely stopped talking when the image of that night a that warehouse flashed in his mind. 

_ “The one on Stark’s field workers? The ones collecting materials for the company usage, right.” _

_ Cael looked to be only a couple years older than Peter, how was he involved in this. “Yes, Yakov. I also was hoping we could achieve something else. There was a high school intern Tony Stark recently hired.”  _

_ Peter’s body tensed up. How did they know about him? _

_ The other member walked in. He was probably Vex. Huge guy he also saw earlier. “The kid’s name is Peter Parker. Crazy smart he-” _

Peter shook his head. “How do they know.” Peter leaned back and looked at Ned. He was concerned. “Sorry, Ned. Just thought of something.” He decided to try a push away the flashback and deal with it later.

“Peter, are you-”

“I’m fine Ned. So you wanted to know what happened recently?”

Ned looked hesitant. “Um, yeah.” It was obvious he was still worried about Peter. Despite that Peter decided to tell him about everything other than the warehouse.

**4:00am**

Peter shifted in his bed that night. His dreams kept him from a proper sleep. 

_ Peter was on his knees in seconds, his back felt like it was being ripped apart. Spiderman looked at his shaking hands and then at the man standing in front of him. His gaze darkened, the figure was much larger than Peter. The pain he was in didn’t help with his confidence against the man. “Whoever you are, and whatever you think you’re doing. You will regret it. Don’t mess with things you don’t understand.” _

Peter’s brows furrowed. His face scrunched up as he slept.

_ Peter’s senses spiked when the man raised his gun again. His eyes widened and he instinctively shot a web at the man’s face. Peter stumbled to his feet and swung himself out of there as soon as possible. As he swung into the attic, Peter found the window and got himself out of there as soon as possible.  _

Peter woke up with a start. His forehead was covered in sweat. He took a second to catch his breath. Peter walked over to the hotel widow and opened it up. A gust of wind brushed his face and he looked up. “I have to find them.” The wind was steady and cold, but it calmed him down. 

“I’m not the only one who is in danger.” Peter tensed up and released it in a large breath. “Mr. Stark is the one being targeted. If I keep a low profile… Crap. That’s not going to happen. I have to give a speech in front of hundreds of people tomorrow nig- well, technically tonight.” He shut the window so Ned wouldn’t wake up from the room being cold. “I need to- the watch! I can use that to store all the information about this on. I can risk anyone knowing about this. Especially Mr. Stark.” Peter went to take a shower. When he finished it was five in the morning. He laid back down in his bed for the next two hour. He let his mind wander about all the possibilities this could open up. 

Around noon the decathlon of Midtown High walked onto the stage. They were introduced and the rounds of questions started. Peter sat down with Michelle, Flash, Cindy, Abe, and Ned. Peter’s palms were sweaty as they scribbled on their papers and wrote down answers. Peter finally looked up after the first 15 minutes of the competition. 

In the front row is a well dressed man. Peter squinted his eyes, totally missing the woman reading the question. The man took off his shaded glasses and looked back at Peter. “Mr. Sark!” He whispered as MJ hit the buzzer. 

“The answer is 98.”

Peter looked over and tried to stay focused. Knowing Mr. Stark was there made him try even harder. A few others from Midtown have also noticed the billionaire’s presents in the room. 

Peter, Abe, and MJ were the three top competitors answering almost every answer. After an hour of intense thinking and writing. They came down to the final question.

“We have reached the final question. If Midtown answers correctly they win they advance Nationals. If Lincoln answers correctly we will move into sudden death. The question is…” 

Everyone tensed up on the team. Flash was sweating buckets, Cindy and Abe were talking formulas over, Ned was chewing on his eraser, MJ and Peter were both all ears ready to answer as quickly as possible.

“The question is in the science category.” Peter immediately knew that this was his specialty. “Monocrystalline silicon ingots can be produced using what?”

Both teams started to write things down. The guages and Peter’s brain only took seconds to work and he pressed his buzzer. Apparently so did the other school.

“Lincoln High?”

A girl said her answer. “Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition.” 

Peter was so happy he could almost jump out of his seat. 

“That is incorrect, Midtown High number 1 had also buzzed. Do you have an answer?”

“Yes Ma’am.” Peter said. “The answer is The floating zone crystal growth process.” Peter was so happy, he looked at Mr. Stark who only nodded his head.

“That is correct.” 

Midtown’s team jumped in the air screaming and hugging each other. Flash and MJ both hugged Peter at once. You did it Peter!” MJ said hugging him tighter. 

After their celebration the team came down to meet with their families. Peter smiled watching Ned and MJ hug their parents. Flash and I were in the same boat, none of our parents were there.

“Peter, hey.” Speaking of the devil. Flash stood by Peter with his hands in his pockets. “Ahh, good job out there…” His voice was in a different tone than usual. 

Peter cocked an eyebrow and looked at him. “Thanks. I bet you would have answered some too, it was probably the nerves.” He relaxed a little bit. This was a completely different side of Flash.

Flash ran his hands through his hair. “I should probably go.” 

He took a single step before Peter grabbed his arm in a firm grip. “What was your deal last Friday?” Peter asked his demeanor more confident and stern. 

He looked back at Peter and ripped his arm away. Flash crossed his arms facing Peter. “You really want to know?”

Peter nodded.

“Alright, I wanted to know about Stark, what type of relationship you have. How could a total loser wannabe get an internship with Tony Stark!” That’s the Flash Peter knows, jealous and self-centered.

Peter was about to speak before someone cut him off. 

“He is a smart kid. I was more than impressed with his work. That is why he is an intern for my company and about to start a branch in the industry.” Tony said stepping in and putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Maybe you should listen to him sometime.” He ended before leading Peter out of the building. People casually try to stop the two to ask questions on why he was here. “I already let your teacher know I was here to take you back.”

Peter was flattering the Mr. Stark stood up to Flash for him. He’ll probably lay off Peter for a while. “Mr. Stark, you know. You didn’t have to come to the decathlon itself.” 

Tony pushed people out of the way and got into the car with Peter. “You think I drove four hours just to pick you up. I was at least going to watch if I had to drive that far… Those other kids, on the other team, they were good b-”

“But we were better.” Peter finished his sentence.

Tony looked at the kid and smiled. “That’s right. You guys were better.” It’s almost like Peter read his mind. 

The two continued small talk for the next half hour before Peter started to doze off in the passenger seat. 

“Hey kid.” Tony spoke. “Before you decide to fall asleep, how about you explain this whole party thing.”

Peter had his eyes closed as he spoke. “Well, it was Flash’s party. The only reason he wanted me there was to figure out why you were at the school that one day.” His words were understandable.

“That’s it? Why did you get so mad about that?” 

Peter’s brows furrowed, his eyes still closed. “Who likes being used? Mr. Stark.” There was a crack in his eyelids. “Thank you for everything. I’ve only been here for almost three weeks and you’re already doing so much for me.”

“Don’t sweat it kid, you earned this. Now get some rest, we have a large event tonight.”

______

**Stark Industries 6:15pm**

Peter arrived, he was suppose to be escort to the venue with Mr. Stark. As he was on his way to Mr. Stark's office he bumped into a familiar figure, or figures. 

“I’m sorry I wasn’t-” He looked up to find Black Widow and Hawkeye. “You… you’re the Avengers. Well a couple of them.”

Natasha laughed. Clint put his hands on his hips. “And you’re Peter Parker. Tony talks about you quite a bit.”

“You can say that again. He bailed on us yesterday to have that meeting with you.” Natasha added.

Peter was more than flatter, Mr. Stark, Tony Stark, talked about him. “I’m really sorry about that. I didn’t know he was busy.”

Natasha smiled and looked down at Peter. “Don’t be sorry. Tony is unpredictable... looking forward to your speech tonight.”

Peter’s face turned red. “Wait, you’ll be there?”

“Of course, all of the Avengers that are staying in the compound are. We else would we be dressed like this?” Clint added expressing his fancy attire. The two waved and left, probably getting ready to leave for the expo.

Peter continued up the elevator and went to Mr. Starks office. Every second that passed more knots filled his stomach. He stepped inside and found a tuxedo hung up by the window. 

Tony comes out of the bathroom in his own tux. He looks up and sees Peter. “That one is yours. It was my old one so it should fit you.” Peter didn’t realize this was a full on black tie event.

“Oh, thanks Mr. Stark. I’ll be in the bathroom.” Peter grabbed the suit and struggled to figure out how it worked. The pants and shirt fit. He was fumbling with the cumberbun and bow tie. 

“You alright kid?” Tony asked through the door. 

“Ye-shoot. Yeah, just-.” Peter kept dropping the cumberbun. “Dang it.”

Tony could hear his audible struggle and opened the door. “You good? Can I come in?”

Peter watched the door open and was defeated. “I don’t know how in the world you put this on, more or less where it goes exactly.” 

Tony grabbed the piece. “Turn around.” Tony wrapped it around his waist tightened and then clipped it. “Now the bowtie.” Peter gave it to him and he slid it through the collar until it was perfect. Then he clipped the bow. “There you go.”

Peter grabbed the suit coat and buttoned it up. “I don’t think I have worn anything this nice… ever.” Peter mumbled looking in the mirror. He sat there and admired himself, he looked good.

Tony grabbed his phone and a couple of other things. “All right Pete, let’s get going. We want to be there a bit earlier so we have time to get ready. Do you have your speech down?”

Peter smiled and rolled his eyes. “Yes, I have have my speech down. I’m nervous as hell though.”

Tony raised his arms in defense. “I just don;t want you embarrassing me, that's all.”

“Of course Mr. Stark. You will be the one embarrassed if I go up there and forget everything I am about to say.” His tone was obviously sarcastic.

Tony nudged the kid’s shoulder. “Exactly, glad we’re on the same page.” The two went downstairs and made their way outside. Tony’s slick black vehicle was ready to drive. The two got in and headed down to the expo.

When they arrived there was already a huge crowd of people outside. Peter looked around the people making their way of to Mr. Stark’s side of the vehicle. He looked at his mentor. “That sucks. Can you even get out?”

Tony opened the door. “I’m not the only one being crowded.” 

Peter looked at his window and a group of people that weren't there before were right out his door. His heart rate shot, his palms began to sweat, he was terribly anxious at this point. Peter took a huge breath and opened the door. People started to move out of the way and Mr. Stark joined his side.

“This is insane. You go to these all the time?” Peter asked.

Tony smiled and waved to the people. “All the time. About 5 or 6 every month, that’s mainly because I plan them though.”

Peter watched Tony and tried to imitate him. People were flashing cameras and asking questions he couldn’t hear. Once they got inside where it was quiet Peter looked at Tony. “That was terrible. Why are they so anxious to get a story?”

“That’s their job Pete. They got to lengths to get a story. Anytway, aside from that, after your speech you’ll have time to mingle. Try not to get too close to the media. There is a bar over there that serves orange and apple juice, because you can’t drink yet. It’s not a bad idea to try and talk with company owners and things like that. It’s always good to build rep.”

Several bodyguards, including Happy, were spread across the expo. Peter was marveled by the large room, there were large cylinder pillars that held up a balcony. A maple wood covered the floor. The walls had large floor to ceiling windows and expensive paintings on the plain areas. At the very opposite side there was a wide stage with a microphone. There were small lights that lined the edges of the stage, overhanging was a massive chandelier. “This is awesome.” 

Tony put his hand on Peter’s back. “Come this way.” They started to walk towards the stage. “I am going to talk for a little bit, then I am going to introduce you. I’ll walk off and the stage is all yours.” 

Peter’s mind thought about this. “Why are you giving me this chance? Someone told me that you haven’t changed at all since you came back from afganistane. I have only seen the news, but it seems like you have so many people that don’t like you.” Peter thought about the warehouse. They wanted to hurt Mr. Stark. Adrik said Mr. Stark was egotistical. “If this is who you are, then why do people think differently?” Peter had balled up his fist and let out a deep breath.

Tony stopped in his tracks and stuffed both his hands in his pockets. He straightened out and looked at Peter. “Many people can’t forget what I did, even now I have saved and lost lives as Iron Man… but don’t think I don’t stay up at night thinking about it. I have a lot of regrets Peter, but I can’t let that stop me from trying to save every life I can… Now let’s go.” He rolled his shoulders trying to shake the conversation. Tony looked at Peter, he really did have such a pure kid. A little angel he was. He couldn’t help but smile.

Peter and Tony were at the base of the stage as people poured into the expo. Women in fancy high priced gowns and men in the top priced suites. 

Tony looked at Peter, both hands on his shoulder. “Remember, present the watch just like you did in front of me. In front of the Avengers. They’re here to support you. Try to calm down.” 

Peter still had a billion butterflies flying in his stomach. All the people in the room were quieting down ready for the feature presentation. “Okay” Peter gulped down his fear. “Okay.” 

Tony smiled and went onto the stage. “Hello everyone. Nice to see you all here for our latest presentation…”

Peter was fiddling with his sleeves watching Mr. Stark, suddenly a hand landed on his shoulder. Peter jumped and quickly relaxed. “Don’t do that, I’m terrified right now.”

Adrik laughed. “You got this kid, I didn’t realize you’d be up there too. Your invention must really be a success.”

“Yeah, that’s why I wasn’t in the intern’s lab last week. I was working right beside Mr. Stark.” Peter’s voice was less shaky, he was starting to loosen up a bit. His smile was wide.

Adrik squatted down and put his hands on Peter’s shoulders. “Just, don’t get too invested in things you don’t understand.” He stood up and walked into the crowd. Peter watched him walk away with a concerned look. He didn’t have anytime to think about it though. 

“Here I present to you ‘The Young Protege’ Peter Parker.”

Peter walked up the steps and looked at the crowd. He came up beside Mr. Stark and grabbed the microphone.

“You got this kid.” Tony walked off stage. 

Peter stood there and looked at everyone. “H-hey everyone.” The volume that spread across the room was surprised. Such a good sound system. “As you all now know my name is Peter Parker.” He looked and found Steve Rogers in a tux looking at him. They’re supporting him every step of the way. Peter smiled and loosened his shoulders. “I have come with an invention that can change your life.” A large screen behind him showed a poster ad for the watch. “This is called, The Self-Help Watch. This device can connect to your phone through an easy access code. It tells you the time and day, holds notes and will even send you reminders that you set.” Peter looked and found Natasha and Clint smiling at him. Clint made a motion that showed him sleeping. Peter realised he was telling him to spice it up. 

Peter took out the microphone and started to walk around. “Now you might look at me and think I am an immature highschooler, but this is a Stark Industry watch. Don’t underestimate the brand. This watch has a mechanism that scans and can calculate signs of fear.” A few in the crowd straightened up. 

“This watch will sense a large amount of fear that can range from a seizure to being a victim to an attack. Then a button will appear on the watch touching that button will send an alert out within a mile. All phones in that range will show emergency numbers giving the police first notice on something happening. There is also an option to turn it off; if it's a false alarm like an anxiety attack. Now if it is a seizure it will send a single out without a response of 15 seconds.” Peter took a breath and looked around. “The watch also holds a mechanism, almost like an ultrasound. It sends pulses into your wrist to help you calm down. This will help the user think more rationally and assess the situation... “ Peter smiled and held up the watch. “This is The Self-Help Watch. I hope you all take advantage of the future. Thank you.” 

Everyone started clapping as Peter walked off stage. “Mr. Stark… I, I can’t believe it. I did it!” Peter was almost jumping around. 

“You did good kid… You, you were impressive. Now let's get you out there. Steve and Bruce sent me a text saying he wanted to talk to you.”

“Wait.” Peter stopped and grinned. “Did you just say that Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner wanted to talk to me.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I cannot believe this, Thank you so much Mr. Stark.” Peter about to hug him and then stepped back and realized how inappropriate that was. “Thank you.”

For the next hour Peter got a proper introduction from all the Avengers. Bruce, Clint, Steve, and Natasha. 

“Pow, perfect shot! It was probably the coolest shot in archery history. I was well over 1500 meters away.” Clint said, shooting an invisible bow. 

Peter laughed. “Clint, I bet I can definitely beat you in a game of darts. Despite your best efforts, I am a pro.”

The two bickered for a bit until the others decided to let Peter go on his own. He talked with a few adults and then took a seat at the bar. “Could you pour me orange juice please?” 

“You’re the kid that was on stage right. Nice job.” The man said before he was getting the drink ready. 

“Hey! You’re Peter right?” Peter turned and looked at two well dressed men. One sat beside him while the other stood in front of him.

“Yeah, thats me. Anything you guys need?” He was getting more comfortable talking with adults.

“Actually, yes.” The man in front seemed to be the main talker. Peter focuses on him. “My name is Tilo Javan. I am the CEO of Javan Corporations. I work on the coast of North Carolina. I came for this and I sure will say it was worth it.” He handed Peter a business card. “Here, let us know if you need anything. We can use someone of your caliber.” 

Peter nodded as the one man got up and they both walked away. He turned around happy to find his juice arrived. “Perfect!” Peter took a swig. His face twisted oddly. “Woah, that has an odd taste. “ He put it down before hearing a commotion. 

He looked to his right to see Happy and a couple of other security guards making their way through the crowd. Peter’s vision grew hazy. “What the- what’s.”

Happy grabbed Peter and threw his drink to the ground. He started to shout and slowly walked Peter off to Tony and Steve. “Watch him!” Happy yelled before running away.

Peter couldn’t stand up straight, someone was holding up his weight. “I-I can’t.” His legs gave out. 

“Stay with me kid.” Tony sat him down. Peter could barely keep his head up, almost like he was in a drunken state. 

Peter’s vision was blurring and he was bobbing his head. He brought a hand up to his head. “Dammit, what was that.” Then in seconds his vision cleared back up. The loud commotion of the room finally came back in full. He looked at Steve and Tony.

Tony looked at Peter, “Wait, you’re fine?”

“Y-yeah I think so.” He sat up.

“How is that possible?” Steve said. “Happy said someone drugged him. Nothing can get through the system that fast.”

Peter immediately knew that his metabolism burned through it. He decided to keep his mouth shut.

**10 minutes ago**

Happy stood at the side and watched for any activity which rarely happened. He looked over at Peter. “The kid’s already famous.” He was talking with two what looked like businessmen. The one sitting next him was a little suspicious. Suddenly his hand hovered over Peter’s drink and he dropped something in. 

Happy grabbed his walkie talkie. “We have two people. Just put a substance in a drink. They are indoensian wearing white tuxedos. They are heading east. as last seen.” 

Peter already looked disoriented after drinking it. Happy grabbed it and threw it to the floor. He held the boy up. “Tony! Tony.” 

Tony came out of nowhere and grabbed Peter. “What happened?”

“He was drugged. We know who did it and we are taking him out of here as soon as possible.”

Tony nodded. “We need to shut this down. Steve, call the others and tell them to get everyone out of here.”

**1 hour later**

Everyone was out and all that was left in the large expo center was the Avengers, Peter, and Happy.

Peter told Tony everything that happened, everyone figured out the situation and gathered together. 

“How does something like this happen?” Bruce said.

“We let our guard down. I guarantee this has something to do with that threat Tony.” Natasha said.

Steve added in. “We can’t assume anything.” 

Happy finally chimed in. “I don’t think she is too off. Those men that drugged you Peter… they were hired to. They had a location to bring you to afterwords, but will not say anything else at the moment.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, that's the end. Things are going to get exciting from here. Don't worry, there will be A LOT of Tony Stark and Peter Parker father/son stuff coming up. Don't you worry! Also, I really appreciate everyone who is still reading this and keeping with it. It means a lot. Let me know what you think is happening!!!  
> Love y'all and STAY HEALTHY!! PLEASE!


	7. Chapter Seven: Identity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter there is a lot of Tony and Peter stuff. Some good and some not as pleasant. Anyway, the chapter is leading up to some pretty intense stuff that chapter 8 will have. I hope you all like it. Stay inside, and stay healthy. Love y'all.

**Saturday 12:32am**

Tony sat on the sofa in the lounge with the four other Avengers. “This is a lot bigger than we imagined.”

Natasha stood up. “That kid is in a lot of danger Tony. We can’t just… you have to keep an eye on him.”

“She's right Tony. He has no way to defend himself, you said he is only 15 right?” Bruce added.

The room was quiet as they all thought about the situation. “I know I’m not the brightest one here, but I think we need to look at the bigger picture.” Clint sat down next Toy

Tony perked up. “And what are you trying to suggest?”

Clint sat up straight. “Surely you guys have put the dots together.”

Steve looked at him, he knew what Clint was impling. “Do you really think they're connected?”

Natashed crossed her arms. “Okay, so say that our hacks and Tony’s threats are connected. Why would they want us together? That would just make us stronger against them.”

Bruce looked at the clock. An idea clicked in his mind, he decided it was best to rest on it and not get everyone riled up this late. “It’s late guys. We should pick this up tomorrow. Tony, did you take Peter home?” 

Tony stood and stretched. “Nah, with the crap that happened tonight I didn’t want him home alone. He’s in the guest room, probably fast asleep.”

They nodded in response and went to their respective rooms. Tony passed the room that Peter was in. He stopped and looked at the door, Tony put his hand on the handle attempting to turn it and check on him. His mind told him not to. They have a working relationship, nothing else.

Tony ran that same hand through his hair and went to the master bedroom. Pepper was fast asleep under the covers. Tony slipped into a T-shirt and flannel bottoms, then slowly slipped under the covers. 

For another hour he was thinking, what if Happy didn’t catch that detail? What if they took Peter? What were they planning on doing? Why did they need to hire someone? What is their goal? The questions flowed through his head. This was a lot bigger than anyone thought. It was only going to get worse, they had to be vigilant.

\---------

**7:00am**

Steve was the only one awake, He sat in the lounge doing a crossword puzzle in an old newspaper. “An 8 letter word for annoyed?”

Natasha was in a long night gown that reached her ankles. Her hair was a mess, the bags under her eyes were visible. “Irritate.” She said while getting the coffee going.

He looked at her. “That’s new. I have never seen you in a nightgown.”

She leaned on the counter waiting for the coffee to brew. “I wear them quite often actually. They’re very comfy.” After a couple of minutes she had two cups of hot coffee. She sat across from the super soldier putting coffee in his line of view. 

“Thanks” He said, blowing on it then taking a sip.

They sat in silence for a few moments.

“Nat… something was bothering me last night. Those people, the ones that were hired, they had to know who Peter was before the event.”

She sighed. “I was hoping for a non-stressful morning.” Nat looked at him. “Why would you say that, they could’ve planned on kidnapping whoever the speaker was. Peter or anyone else.” 

“That’s where the problem lies. These people wouldn’t be so careless unless they knew their target was an ignorant teenager. Peter didn’t even notice that they slipped something into his drink. Someone who is experienced at these events always keeps an eye on their beverage.”

“You have a point, but I feel like that is stretching it a bit much. Peter’s identity, according to Tony, was confidential to the workers database until last night's gathering. There was no way anyone would know unless…”

Both of them came to a realization. “Unless they worked in the building.”

“This is an inside job. If they had access to the system then they would have the equipment to override our systems in a synch.”

Natasha leaned back and smiled. “That was the best my brain has worked this early in a long time.” She took a long sip of coffee.

Within the next 20 minutes everyone but Peter was awake. Steve started on breakfast making pancakes and cutting fruit for the side dish. Natasha explained to Bruce, Clint, and Tony their ideas.

“Even if that was true, I would’ve been notified if someone else has entered the system. Pepper has a login database of everyone who logs onto a computer in the building.”

Peter walked into the room and he was a little disoriented. “Why am I here?” His voice slurred and gaze turned to Tony.

Tony looked at him and motioned him to sit down. “After what happened last night I thought it would be better to just keep you here. Your aunt doesn’t come home until tomorrow.”

“Oh-yeah.” Peter responded. 

The group was all sitting down and eating. Peter himself didn’t feel thankful. Everything that had been happening made him super aware and uneasy.

“Peter you need to eat something.” Tony told him.

Peter only groaned and half heartedly took a bite of fruit.

Bruce looked at the team. “Tony, you and I will work in the lab and try to get this firewall business figured out. Clint, you need to hash things out about the material team attack. Steve and Nat, you two look into the events of last night. We need to know who they’re working for.” 

Peter perked up. He knew things, that night at the warehouse, Tony needed to know. How was he going to tell him. He couldn’t just straight up say that he knew, then Mr. Stark would know about…

His thoughts were interrupted by FRIDAY’s voice chiming in. “Sir, there is important mail that has been dropped off. I suggest you look into it.”

Tony sighed. “Mail… ugg.” He looked at Peter. “Looks like you’ve woken up. How about you get the mail, this is stuff you shouldn’t worry about.”

Peter nodded and went to the elevator. “Okay, how to tell Mr. Stark. Maybe just be like ‘hey I heard about this warehouse you know. Super creepy stuff-’... I’m so dumb.” He walked out and the mail was in a pile in the door. “Wait… It’s Sunday, the mail isn’t delivered on Sundays.” He looked through and found a magazine. “Why the hell is this considered important?” Peter went back to the elevator and pulled it out. 

_“Stark’s rising protege: Peter Parker”_ There was a large picture of him on the cover during his speech. Peter’s eyes were wide, his mouth was so dry he couldn’t speak. “No no no no noooo. This is not good.” Peter started to silently panic. 

The elevator opened and all the Avenger’s looked at him. Peter threw down everything else and marched up to Mr. Stark. “Explain this to me?” He held up the magazine. 

Tony grabbed it. “Yeah, you look good in a tux.” He was sarcastic.

“No, why am I on there! Don’t they need my consent?” Peter could not have his face everywhere. Those men traking him as well as Spider-Man.

“No they don’t. You do not know a thing about publicity huh… Even so, with the events of last night this probably isn’t the best. Why was it here on a Sunday though?”

Peter didn’t even respond to the question. “Mr. Stark, you need to get down or taken off. Something!”

The Avengers started to look concerned. The kid was about to have a meltdown. 

Tony smirked like he knew something. “And why do you want it taken down so badly?” 

Peter couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Because I am Spider-Man!” The room was silent and Peter covered up his mouth. “I-I mean, I like Spider-Man. He’s such a great guy. Saving the neighborhood all the time...”

Tony held back a snicker. “I know”

Peter deflated. “What? That’s impossible.”

“Oh don’t give me that sh- crap… You are a terrible liar. That’s where I have mainly noticed. The burns and you being too busy for the internship, Adrik was also curious on why you wanted to be let out so far from home. He told me and I knew it was because of the fire. It was obvious that something was happening.”

“Does he know?”

Tony waved his hands. “No, I would trust him with it though. I’ve known the man for years, he’s actually been helping with this whole mess.”

Peter remembered. “I might have information that can be very helpful. I promise I would've told you before, but I didn’t want to screw over my identity!” Peter talked so fast it was almost difficult to understand. 

Bruce stood up. “Peter, how about you come with Tony and I to the lab. The rest of you will receive all the details later on. We need to get a move on this stuff though. We only have so much time before the next attack.”

“Yeah he’s right-” Tony started before looking at the magazine again. “What the-” There was a crickled page. “Peter you didn’t drop this right?”

“No… why?”

Tony opened up the magazine to see a picture of Peter and Tony at the party. It was a whole article written about the ‘partnership’ and watch. On the connecting page there was a message in thick sharpie that read. “ _WE KNOW”._

Tony sighed and showed the team. “They already have…” 

\---------

“It happened the night of the Party.” Peter said. The three of them stood down in the lab. He was fidgeting with a screwdriver. “I left early and went to the city to blow off some steam and that is when my senses warned me of something… I went toward the direction and after 20 or 30 minutes I reached a warehouse.”

“Did you find anything or anyone inside?” Tony took a step closer.

Peter took in a huge breath trying to not let the events rattle him again. “I did. They were talking about an attack on you. They’re going to be after you Mr. Stark.” 

Tony put his hands on his shoulders. “Deep breaths kid, now did you hear any name or any other information?”

“Yes, I heard the names of three men. It was Yakov, Vex, and…Cael! Yeah, and this Ceal guy mentioned my name, but that's it.” Peter decided to leave out the part about him getting caught. They already had enough problems to deal with, without that. 

Bruce smiled. “So you’re the Spider-Man huh. You did good work kid. This can do a lot in the means for our search.”

Peter perked up a bit. “Thanks. Uh Mr. Banner could I ask you some questions about your metals and fluid strength tests? They both helped me come up with a formula for my web fluid, and I was hoping you could give me some tips to make it better.”

“Yeah, definitely. Once we get through some of this stuff we can sit down and work out the details.” Bruce replied.

Tony loudly coughed. “If you two didn’t know, we don’t have all the time in the world.”

Peter’s eyes widened. “Sorry Mr. Stark. I’ll get started on facial recognition scans.” He said sitting at the holographic computer. 

Tony walked over and placed his hands under Peter’s arms and lifted him out of the chair. Then he himself sat into the once occupied seat. “I will do the facial recognition and you can help.”

Peter crossed his arms and pouted. “That’s not fair though.”

“Actually, it is. My computer, my rules. Bruce made sure to send the team the new information.”

“Already done.” Bruce said while sitting down and working on the firewall breach.

“C’mon Mr. Stark. I’ll never learn if you don’t let me help.” He started to whine.

“You are helping. Now, what was the first guy's name?” 

“Yakov” Peter muttered. “The others were Cex and Cael.” Peter stood up and walked over to Bruce. “So what is the deal with this?”

“Hey Peter, this whole firewall business. These people hacked the Avenger’s data firewall blocking us out. They used Tony’s A.I. to do it. We’re trying to figure out how to break it and get back in.”

Peter squinted his eyes and looked at the coding. “My friend showed me this.” Peter put his hands over the keyboard. “Alright, first we change the IP address, then put a proxy to coat the real IP… now.” He typed a few more things into the keyboard. “Give it minute.”

The computer had a red bar come across. “ _Intruder entering system.”_

“FRIDAY, find the loophole that is blocking our codes.” Peter said.

“Loophole found. Unblocking in 30 seconds.” The two waited.

The light turned green. “Access granted, welcome.” 

Peter put his hands up. “Boo-ya!”

Bruce looked at him. “There was no way. If you do that the computer could’ve been completely shut down.”

“I know, I was kind of playing that on a whim. If FRIDAY didn’t help then it probably would’ve burnt the system.” Peter chuckled. “Sometimes you have to take risks.” Peter kept talking with Bruce as they went over studies of his and about Peter’s web fluid.

Tony looked over at the two while he went over the recognitions. “Do you need any help?”

“No!” Peter said.

“Alright. I’m here if you need me.” Tony trailed off looking back at his screen. “What does Bruce's studies about shrapnel strengthening have over my-” He looked at the screen and cross referenced Cael’s files. “He’s 22 and has applied for the internship 3 times. That’s rough…” Tony thought about it and glanced at Peter who was waving his arms on the other side of the room. Tony laughed and then it clicked. “That’s why, that kid isn’t too much older than Peter. They wanted him out of the way. If Peter was able to get a personalized internship with me and this college guy hasn’t got one himself, they saw him as a threat.” 

The next hour Tony was writing things down and kept glancing at Peter. He looked so goofy, whatever he was talking about with Bruce really made him go all out. Tony smiled before he stood up and put a hand on Peter's shoulder. “Hey kid, I have a surprise for you. Won’t be too long Bruce.”

“You’re fine, I think he got everything from me that he needed to know.” Bruce smiled before getting back to the computer.

“So kid…” Tony started. “You know how I told you that I had you figured out.” 

Peter raised a brow. “You mean about Spider-Man, right?”

“Exactly! Well I had prepared for this moment. Do you have your suit with you?”

“Um yeah.” Peter said. “Why?”

“Just go get it.” With little time Peter went and got his suit and came back.

Tony grabbed it and looked at the fabric. “This is sad… so webbing how do you do that?” 

“The web shooters I made they’re right here actually.” Peter pulled it out of his pocket and placed it on his wrist. “I made the webbing too.”

Tony looked it over. “Climbing walls, how you doing that? Adhesive gloves?”

Peter looked down at his fidgeting hands. “It's a long story. I was-”

Tony looked it over and saw his pitch black goggles. “Lordy, can you ever see these? Wuhaah.” 

Peter grabbed the suit. “I can, I can see in them. It’s just when whatever happened, happened, my senses have been dialed to 11. There’s, there's been way too much input so they, they just kind of help me focus.”

Tony smirked. “You’re in dire need of an upgrade. That’s why I am here and that is why I need your help.” Tony led Peter into another room in the front as a Spider-Man suit model. “This is why I need your help. To work out all the details. I started working on this as soon I suspected it was you.”

Peter’s mouth was agape. “This is, this is awesome! Mr. Stark! Thank you! Thank you so much.”

“FRIDAY, notify the others and let them know that I am in section B of the lab, also send them the information that was researched on the computer. Alright kid, I need to know what your freakish body does.”

Peter’s brow furrowed. “That’s rude. I’m not freakish, I am special.” He said acting like a 5 year old. 

“You are such a child.” Tony chuckled. “Now what do you need?” 

For hours the pair was in the lab while Tony learned about Peter’s powers and they figured out how to create a successful suit. 

Night settled in and Pepper was the one to interfere with their workflow. “I brought you both food and som-” She looked at the Spider-Man suit. “What is that?”

Peter turned and grabbed a plate. “Thank you Mrs. Potts and I am Spider-Man. We’re making an upgrade.”

“Yep.” Tony took a plate as well. “Turns out the super genius is also Queen’s neighborhood hero.”

Pepper shook her head. “How does this always happen. Anyway, he has school tomorrow so make sure to turn it in soon.

The two took a break to eat the chicken and mashed potatoes that were given to them. “Mrs. Potts is an awesome cook…” 

“She didn’t make these.” Tony said simply. “It was either Steve or Clint, they are the only ones who can cook. Pepper isn’t terrible, she just waits too long and sometimes burns it.”

“Well, whoever made it did good. Would it be alright if I stayed here tonight? Then I can just take everything home after the internship tomorrow.” 

Tony looked up. “I thought you were staying, with everything that happens I don’t want you sleeping in that apartment alone. I;m not sure you are a main target, but my theory is that you are a threat to them and they want to get rid of you to make their jobs easier.”

Peter finished his food. “But we won’t let that happen… okay so something I was also thinking of adding was like wing things. Something to help me glide in case I miss or something. It hurts like hell to be flying and then faceplant the pavement.”

“How many times have you done that.”

“9.”

“Jeez kid, in what? Like 5 or 6 months right.”

“Yeah.”

The two made tweeks to the suit for another couple of hours. Tony came back from the bathroom. “It’s getting late Peter, Its past midnight and you ha-” Looking inside the lab Peter was sitting with a screwdriver in hand fast asleep. There was some drool hanging from his mouth. 

Tony smiled and tried to wake him up, when that failed he thought about picking him up, but he was scared of accidentally dropping him. Tony got some blankets and laid them over while putting a pillow under his head. “There you go kid.” Tony turned off the lights and let Peter sleep.

Peter woke up in a dark room. He let his eyes adjust for a moment. Then he looked at his watch that illuminated the time. 5:47am, Monday. “So early.” Peter muttered before finding the lightswitch. The lights came on and made his eyes sting. “Ahh.” He blinked until the light didn’t burn. “Where am-” He looked around. “Oh, the lab. That’s right.”

He walked around and the room was empty. “Guess no one else is awake yet.” He looked at the Spider-Man suite. He never finished it, he fell asleep. Peter sat down and started to create the final installments. Then a thought came to his mind. “FRIDAY?”

The A.I. erupted to life. “Peter Parker, may I be of assistance?”

Peter was shocked that it responded. He wasn’t sure if it would activate. “That’s awesome… uh, can you do a scan of the suit and tell me anything else needed to tweek it?”

“Scanning… There are 2 rebuffs needed. The left forearm’s web device is cracked. The material on the right calf is too thin and may break if used.”

Peter looked at the crack in the web shooter and quickly welded it back up. After that pulled the fabric machine down to do a runover of the leg. The large spider on the back looked amazing. The suite was a million times better than the last one.

When his work was done his watch said 6:52am. “Someone has to be awake at this time.” Peter got up and went to the elevator. It made its way to the common room. Steve and Natasha were the only two sitting out there. “Oh, hey guys.” 

“Peter.” Steve greeted.

Natasha only smiled. “You did an awesome job with that computer. How did you manage to hack into their system like that?”

Peter sat down. “Actually it’s a little trick a friend of mine showed me. It was nothing really, I think Bruce was thinking too hard about it. With the information we already had it was an easy hack.”

“What’re you all talking about out here?” Tony came into the room and poured himself some coffee.

Peter looked at him with wide eyes. “Oh, I have an idea that I wanted to tell you. So, tonight would be a great night to check out the warehouse and take it out. We can all go in and plant a surprise attack.”

Tony smiled. “That’s actually an awesome idea, but you won’t be coming.”

“What?” Peter stood up. “But I was the one who found it. That’s stupid.”

“Peter, you’re in too much danger as it is. I need you to stay here where it is safe.” Tony’s voice was calm, but it didn’t do anything to simmer Peter’s boiling anger.

Clint walked in. “He’s not wrong Pete. It’s probably best for you to stay under wraps. The media is going to be all over you for the next week.”

Peter crossed his arms and stared at the ground. “Whatever…” With no comeback in mind he went to the bathroom to take a quick shower. After that he grabbed his things and left for school without saying a word to anybody else.

“This is stupid, Mr. Stark can’t just tell me what to do. It’s not like he’s my dad or anything.” When he said that a shadow of guilt fell over him. The man has been so kind to him within the past weeks. It still didn’t deny the fact that Tony is stopping him from doing what he thinks is right.

It started to rain halfway on his walk to school. He got there with a half hour to spare. When he entered the building there was a surprising amount of kids who greeted him. As he was going to his gym locker for a change of clothes a boy in his class came over. “Hey, I’m Gradyn. You probably don’t know me, but I love your watch. I got it on my way to school this morning, it’s so cool. Anyway, I saw that your clothes were soaked. I have an extra pair if you need to borrow any.” 

Peter was more than shocked. “Thanks Gradyn, but I have a pair of my own.” He walked past him and went to his gym locker where he was once again approached by fans of his invention. It was a bit unsettling, he was never good with people and now he is being showered in praise. 

He found MJ a little bit before school. He caught her reading the magazine with him on the cover. “What are you doing?!” Peter grabbed it from her hands.

She snatched it back. “The school has them sitting in the office. All students are allowed to grab one.

Peter’s eyes widen, “I thought Mr. Stark was supposed to change that.”

She giggled. “I wouldn’t worry too much. You look pretty attractive in your suite. Shows off your great build.” Peter raised an eyebrow until she popped her head up. “I-I didn’t mean it like that. That was- I mean sure you have an attractive body , but I don’t think it’s attractive! I don’t think you’re attractive, that's absurd I have better things to worry about than your perfect skin! I…” She stuffed the magazine in her bag and quickly left. 

Peter laughed, she sounded just like him when embarrassed. “That was so cute.” He smiled looking at his watch and going to class.

**12:35 Stark Tower**

Pepper was in her office on the phone with Rodney when Tony walked in. “Yes, Tony has also requested that Adrik be brought in at that time as well… Of course, we need all hands on deck to figure this out. Thank you.” Pepper hung up and looked at him. “Thank you for coming up. You didn’t keep me waiting.”

Tony sat down and leaned forward. “So what is it?”

“I wanted to talk about Peter.” Pepper said as she completely took her hands off the keyboard. “I can tell this boy means a lot to you.”

Tony was almost embarrassed to hear it. “Well, he’s only a kid. Someone with mutant powers, someone got to look after him. I don’t even think his aunt knows about him being Spider-Man. Now he is this huge deal and what-”

“Tony.” She was able to silence him with one word. “I just want you to know that if you take this kid under your wing more than you have now, I will support your decision, but you can’t back down when it gets tough or scary. Peter will be putting himself in harm's way to save others. You are going to have to learn to accept that.” Pepper walked over and placed her hands on his shoulders. She rubbed them gently trying to calm him down. She could tell that the stress of all this was not doing him well and Peter has been his medicine through it.

Tony relaxed as she rubbed his shoulders. She was right, he wasn’t allowed to parent Peter, just guide him. “Thanks, Pep. I really don’t know what I would do without you.” He stood up and gave her a kiss. “See you in a bit hun.” Tony said before going to the elevator. 

He thought about what she said trying to find a way of context. The elevator bell interrupted his thoughts. He walked into the lounge and found Clint and Steve trying to see who could bottle flips a near empty bottle first. 

Suddenly Clint’s flip landed. “Beat you Captain. How does it feel to lose? I don’t think it’ll be something I’ll ever experience.” Clint jokes.

Tony interrupted their game. Nat and Bruce who were sitting on the sofa perked up. “Tonight we are investigating the warehouse Peter had found intel on. This will be a night mission and Peter is not allowed to go. Now I’ll explain more details at 4, we will be meeting in the 8th floor conference room. The mission starts at 11pm, we need to meet and be ready by 10:30pm.” They all nodded in response and went to their normal activities.

Tony himself went down to the lab and sat down on a stool burying himself in work. For what seemed like hours, he created the new module for the Iron Man armor. 

He was broken from work mode when Steve Rodger came to check up on him. “Hey Tones, you know, I don’t think it would be a bad idea to let him come.”

Tony set his wrench down and looked at him. “The kid is in danger, if we have him come there is a chance that the enemy will learn.”

Steve siged. “I know it’s hard, but you can’t hold him back from these things, despite the dangers that it comes with. He needs to learn somehow.” 

“I’m not letting him come!” Tony burst standing up. “I cannot watch someone I lov- I care to just disappear. I have lost too much, if that kid was hurt…. I’m not sure if my heart could take it.” Tony ran his hands through his hair. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have shouted. “It’s just… I can’t lose anyone else.”

Steve stood and sighed. “Well, everyone is ready for this meeting that you wanted to do, so let's get to it.”

Both Tony and Steve headed to the conference room. Walking in the talking grew quiet. Everyone who was a part of the operation was there. Sam, Adrik, and Rhodney were the only new faces in the room. Tony looked and decided that with Adrik in the room it was best to keep Peter’s secret, a secret.

“So, if anybody needs a recap. I have personally been receiving threats that have turned more violent and serious. The only objective we know of is to stop me from continuing my work. Despite that, the group has targeted and attempted to kidnap my intern. Recent information that has opened up has shown us a location that these people may be using. The Avengers and I will be invading the warehouse tonight. Adrik, Bruce, and Rhodes will stay back and do their part on the tech. If you have any questions Rhodes or Romanoff are your best resources.” Tony nodded. “Adrik I need to talk to you outside.”

Tony and Adrik left the room. “Mr. Stark I want to thank you once again for trusting me with this. It's really great to work with you.”

“Yeah, whatever. I need you to watch Peter, he is really insisting on trying to find a way to come with us. As you know, he was the intern that these people are after. From what I know they only see him as a threat. Knowing this makes me a little less worried, but I don’t want him prying into this.”

Adrik sighed, but quickly mustered a smile. “Yeah, I’ll keep an eye on him. I’ll even give him a ride home. Make sure he is safe, Peter is an ambitious kid. Despite his brains it doesn’t seem like he thinks things through. Don’t worry Mr. Stark, Peter is in good hands.”

Around 6:00pm Peter was starting to get antsy. He was checking his phone rather than working on anything. Adrik looked over and could see his impatience. “How ya’ doin kid?”

Peter was completely taken from his trance. “What? Uh, fine... I guess.”

“I heard about what happened at the party.” Adrik stated while looking at a blue liquid that was set at his station.

Peter laughed. “Oh yeah, it's really not a big deal. I have an amazing metabolism so I burn through things pretty darn fast. Like that drug that was in my system burned through it in about 2-3 minutes.”

Adrik smiled. “Really? That’s good to know. How did that happen, you follow a certain eating regimine?”

Peter blanked, that was a lot of information he didn’t need to know. “Ah, kind of. It’s a long story though. Look at the time, I have to pick something up from downstairs.” Peter put everything away and was about the head towards the elevator before someone grabbed his jacket stopping his continuation. “What the-?”

“Oh no you don’t. Stark told me that I am watching you until you get home. Which also means that it’s time to go.” Adrik said, tugging his shirt a little.

Peter rolled his eyes. “He keeps treating me like such a kid.”

“But you are a kid.” Adrik responded.

Peter followed Adrik to his car and got into the passenger seat folding his arms. “This dumb… I can’t believe Mr. Stark. I thought he trusted me just a little.”

Adrik looked, “I am working really close with Stark on this whole threat situation. He just wants you safe, I am not saying by any means that he is the greatest person in the world, but he does care for you.”

Peter looked up at him and then sighed unfolding his arms. “I guess you're right. It’s just- you know.” Peter looked out the window. After about 20 minutes they entered Queens. He didn’t even realize that he was taken home. “Wait, how did you know? The last time I had you take me home it was a couple miles back.”

Adrik smiled as Peter got out. “Stark told me.” After that he drove off. 

Peter looked at him. “Wonder what that was about?” He went upstairs to the apartment building and found a familiar face pacing in front of the door. “MJ? What are you doing here.”

She looked up at Peter completely shocked. “Uh, I-.” 

They stared at each other for a few moments. “This!” She held up the magazine. “What is this? Why didn’t you say anything to Ned or I?”

Peter went wide eyed and used his key to unlock the door. Then he grabbed her hand and dragged her to his room without even taking the time to greet May. Peter slammed his door shut and regretted not picking up his room sooner. “It’s complicated.”

MJ sat down on the office chair in his room. “How is being a genius complicated? Hell I even bought a watch myself.” She showed him holding it up. “That’s not what was bothering me though…” There was a look of worry that washed over her. “They said there was an unfortunate accident that occurred concerning the guest of honor. That was you Peter.” 

Peter picked up some clothes from the floor and set them in the hamper. “Yeah, let’s just say that I was drugged by some people who were trying to get to Mr. Stark.” He needed to keep Spider-Man as quiet as possible with all the crap going on.

MJ looked at her watch. “Look at that, it’s almost 7 and I still need to pick up something at the gas station…. Uh, Peter, just stay safe okay. You’re hurting more than yourself by putting yourself in danger.” She left the room.

Peter thought about it, is he really putting others in danger by getting close to Mr. Stark. Even Adrik was saying things along those lines. Mr. Stark was trying to protect him though, didn’t that mean anything? Peter shook out the thoughts and contemplated his options. He could very easily follow Stark and the others to the place or he could stay back and do nothing…. Who was he kidding. Peter was Spider-Man, he didn’t care that he didn’t have access to his new suit.

Suddenly there was a knock on his door. “Peter dinner is ready.” May said.

But first he had to get the energy he needed to successfully perform his job.

**10:00pm The Warehouse**

Peter was in his suit as he entered the same way he did before. His senses were tingling, but he couldn’t hear a word inside. The only noises he caught up on were the ones of machines. He peaked inside and couldn’t see anyone, He used a web to quietly lower himself into the main room. 

There were boxes everywhere still and it only seemed like they were gone. He lifted his make-shift mask and looked around. There was an office, Peter quickly peaked inside and to no surprise it was empty. “Where is everyone. Are they just out?” Then in the corner of his eye he found a sticky note. 

_“Don’t forget about Spider-Man.”_ They must have written this after I found them. They’re probably not too happy with me. Peter checked any other rooms and they all appeared empty. The next step was to look in the boxes. The second he opened one his senses picked up. There was nothing but styrofoam peanuts, why was he freaking out?

Then he picked up noise. “Someone’s coming.” Peter looked around and hid himself behind a pile of boxes. He kept his ears sharp trying to listen and heard the repulsors. Then Natasha and Clint’s voices came into earshot, as well as the sounds of wings. The Avenger’s they all came. Peter was terrified, Tony would kill him if he found him. He thought they wouldn’t come until after midnight.

Tony busts the door open and walks in along with the others. The Falcon came in from the same entrance as Peter. “FRIDAY, scan the place for heat signatures aside from the team.”

“On it.” She responded. “One heat signature found.”

Tony pointed to it and Natasha nodded. If anyone was good at stealth it was her. She quickly dove on the figure and grabbed his arm, twisting it completely behind his back. With a quick comeback the figure kicked her shin and used his weight to completely flip her onto the ground in front of him. 

“Ah, I’m sorry. That was an accident.”

“Spider-Man? What the hell?” The Falcon commented. 

“Peter?” Natasha, Clint, and Tony all said in unison.

“Mr. Stark… I know what you’re going to s-” Peter started until Tony walked towards him. He stumbled over his words as he stumbled backwards. 

Tony backed the kid into the wall and thought about Steve’s word earlier that day. The kid was going to end up learning one way or another. “Next time, use the new suit.” 

Peter squeezed his eyes shut, but then opened when he heard those words. “What?”

Tony turned around. “I made you a new suit for a reason.” Tony walked away to search the compound. His heart hurt, he was so angry at the kid. He wasn’t his dad, he had to let Peter learn on his own. No matter how much he cared for the kid.

Peter watched him walk away and then quickly asked Nat if she was okay. “I am so sorry, I just freaked out. I knew you guys were coming, but I didn’t know if someone else came. You are very sneaky.”

Nat smiled, stretching her back and looked at Peter. “Thanks kid, I wasn’t expecting that. I also thought you were one of the thugs.”

Clint was talking over the ear piece as the Falcon and Steve joined Tony. “Yeah, he is. This is top secret information, you cannot tell a single soul. We’re only trusting you with it because you overheard. Alright sounds good.” Clint took his hand away and looked at the group. “Well, Adrik now knows about Peter too. He overheard us on the coms.”

“Well, with him working so close it was bound to happen.” Steve pointed out.

Peter watched Tony and sighed. “I feel like I disappointed him… I couldn’t stand to look at him. He was so upset. Argg I’m so dumb.” Peter placed his hand on his head. Clint and Natasha came over. 

“Kid, Stark won’t stay mad forever. Everyone has a cooling period. Plus, I bet you had your own reasons.” Clint said.

“He’s right, also did you find anything? The sooner we can leave the better.” Nat added.

Peter had the note, but that would make his protection even more of a concern. “No, I haven't really searched through the boxes though. Everyone who was here I am guessing scat. There was a lot more here the last time.” 

Tony and the others all gathered up. “Let’s head home. I’ll take Peter.” Tony said. Everyone nodded and left the warehouse. He turned his com off and grabbed Peter under his armpits and started to take him home. “Kid, I will be honest that you really tested my trust tonight… Steve told me to let you learn.”

Peter felt a little strange being dangled hundreds of feet in the air. “I have my own reasons too, you know… I’m also sorry.” Tony landed setting Peter down. “I shouldn’t have gone, you went to measure to make sure I wouldn’t and I still went against them.”

Tony smiled under his Iron Man mask. “It’s alright, I get it. You were just like me… except I don’t know why.”

Peter looked up. “What do you mean by why? I was like you, there shouldn’t be a why.” 

Tony chuckled, but quickly stopped. “I mean your reason for being Spider-Man. What motivation do you have? What do you think about every time you put that suit on?” 

Peter looked down and his thoughts lead to Ben. “It’s kind of a long story.” 

“Perfect, Friday after your internship. Let your unusually attractive aunt know that you are staying at the Tower. We can sort it out and maybe give your new suit a test run.”

“Keep saying stuff like that and I’ll tell Pepper!” Peter cried out as the man made his leave. Peter watched the suit fly away before he went to his own house with a sense of relief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go!! The next chapter will have plenty of action and a lot of back story stuff as well. There will be some cute fluff coming up as well. But don't worry, there will be some heavy and scary things happening as well. I like having a mix of both. Please leave comments and tell me what you think. Love y'all and stay healthy!!!


	8. Chapter Eight: Background

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is really overdue. I will say that I have been kind of putting it off and I won't make excuses. I binged watch all of Glee and it was a really amazing a relaxing time and I don't regret it. I am a huge fan and if you are a Gleek or a Klainer, let me know (we have something in common).  
> Now, with this chapter there is a lot of references with the 2002 and 2012 Spider-Man movies. I also put my own spin on things. Anyway, chapter 9 will almost be purely fluff, which means it will be super fun to write. Chapter 10 is when it gets real, so be ready.

**Stark Industries, Friday 6:25pm**

Tony was in his lab looking at the new spider-man suit. “So he finished it up, huh? Wish he told me.” Tony smiled and looked it over. “I can’t believe him. He’s so young and works with this tech. like it’s his own.” Tony left the room where the suit was. “FRIDAY. Is Peter on his way down?”

“Just a moment Tony… Yes, Peter had just packed up his internship items and is heading down at this moment.”

Within the next 10 minutes Peter came walking through the door. “Mr. Stark! Did you know that it's finally starting to snow. It’s already December 8th, I hate swinging around in this weather.” He smiled and set his things down.

“Well, lucky for you… this bad boy has a heater installed. If you get cold, your suit will regulate your body temperature.” Tony said showcasing the suit. 

Peter’s jaw dropped and slowly approached the suit. “Do you mean like now? I can try it now?!” 

Tony placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Well, I would be accompanying you, but yes. You can use the suit. For the first half hour I ‘ll be flying out there with you, then I have to go and check some things out. You can patrol, or whatever you call your vigilante runs. Then at 9, I want you back here. Understand?”

Peter rolled his eyes and smiled. “I got it.” He looked back at Mr. Stark. “Thank you. I’m not sure you know how much you’ve done for me in the past month, but you’ve made a difference in my life.”

Tony smiled and looked at Peter. “I’m glad to hear that. Now stop being so sappy and go get that suit on.”

Peter was about to grab it and then a thought occurred. “Will it be tight in you know… down there?” He pointed to his middle. 

Tony laughed. “No, It’s spandex, but there should be plenty of room down there.” Peter nodded and grabbed the suit before disappearing into the bathroom. Tony suited up himself. “FRIDAY, all restriction protocol’s are a go in the Spider-Man suit, correct?”

“That is correct. Training Wheels Protocol is up and active. Would you like anything disabled?” Her voice laced with slight concern.

“Nope, that’s all I needed to know.”

“So, how does it look?” Peter walked out mask in hand. 

Tony looked at him and smirked. “Like you own it.” 

Peter smiled and put the mask on. “Wait, so this is mine?” 

“You can say that. Now let's skip the talking and let's go.” Tony said before leaving through a specially made exit. 

Peter grinned ear to ear. “I can’t believe this.” He looked at the suit and let out a huff. “Let’s go.” He ran forward and clicked the button on his suit. A web shot out sticking to the wall. “Simple enough.”

Within minutes the two were swinging and flying though the skyline of New York. Tony watched as Peter fell into the suit's rhythm quite nicely. He was doing flips in the air or giving himself air time between swinging.

Tony had a sense of pride as he watched him. “Hey underoos! Don’t get too careless.” Tony called out flying past him. 

Peter swung under him and landed onto the nearest building. “This is amazing Mr. Stark. I couldn’t have asked for a better gift. The patting on the soul is nice. Takes the shock away from landing. I was just a little confused, there were like a million things we added to the suit, but I have no idea how to access them.”

Tony aimed his repulsors down and slowly released pressure until his suit could safely land. “Just a program, I want you to get used to the suit before anything else. The amount of technology in that suit might shake you. You’re not quite ready for that.”

Peter stared at him, the eyes of the suit blinking with his own. “...sure.” Peter walked to the edge. “Mr. Stark… Those guys. They’re trouble, everyone in manhattan is in danger as long as they are still around.”

“They’re planning something big. That’s why I don’t want you worrying about it. They’re not after you. It’s me they want to hurt. You keep your distance from the matter and you will be fine. The adults will take care of it.”

Peter scoffed. “The adults… you know, it's kind of hard to stay out of something when you’re targeted.” 

Tony closed his eyes and sighed before turning Peter around to face him directly. “Yes, I do know. That’s why I want you to stay out of this. You’re just a kid Peter and I can’t have you sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong, that’s how people get hurt. You got it?”

Peter didn’t look him in the eye. “Yeah… got it.” His tone half-hearted.

“Good.” He patted him on the shoulder. “Now, I have places to be. Remember to be back at the tower at nine.” He pointed at him before his repulsors fired up and flew him across the sky. 

Tony heard FRIDAY’s voice activate in the suit. “Boss, if I recall correctly. Pepper said this is exactly what you shouldn’t be doing. You need to let him be free and with the severity of the case it is understandable, but with the intel we have gathered Peter is a mere pawn. Hiding him from the research will cause resentment.” 

How is it that every A.I. he creates has an opinion. “Alright, what do you suggest we do then?” He said irritation was noticeable.

“I say you take a vacation. Peter has winter break in two weeks. He gets off on the 18th and will not return until the second week of January. Take the files with you, The two of you can spend quality time somewhere warm. Take some stress away while still being connected to the case.”

Tony didn’t mind the idea of a vacation. It has been a while since he has taken a leave from the tower. It’ll be nice to get away for the most part. Being able to sit down and relax for a bit.

Once his suit hovered itself down he let it take its place back in the protection case. After he sat down at the projectile computer and brought up the information on the case. “Ok, let’s see what we have.” Tony brought up the screen taking the files all the Avengers have gathered. 

“So, Steve thinks it was someone in the building, but I find that hard to believe… FRIDAY. Take video footage within the tower and cross reference the faces of the three suspects.”

“Can do, data will not be ready for 2 hours.”

Tony leaned back. “If someone got into the building, they might have planted something.” He put the data search to the side and looked through information on the interrogation. 

_ Interrogation Files:  _

_ Suspects: Rodger and Robert Tilo.  _

_ Occupation: Mercenaries _

Tony flipped through all the background information trying to find the files of what they said. 

_ Interrogation Results: _

_ 2 hours into the interrogation one man admitted that there were four men who had hired them. He didn’t know anything about them, they all looked a little larger than your average human except one who looked tiny. This was not the first time they have been hired by these men.  _

“These are the same people that Peter found in the warehouse! The three suspects- We only have three, there is someone still missing…” Tony furrowed his brow and kept reading. 

_ With some persuasion, the only other information that was revealed was a timeline. They said that this attack plan started 4 months ago. The only reason that Peter Parker was involved is that he was seen as an obstacle. _

Tony’s heart almost jumped from his chest. “Thank goodness. He's not a target… Thank you.” He whispered under his breath. He looked back up at the screen. “That extra person could be in the system or is completely off- grid to protect his identity. Nat and Steve mentioned something about it being an inside job. This may be the person we're looking for.”

“FRIDAY, once that upload is complete I need you to send a message to all members working on this case, on the type of person we are looking for. We need to keep quiet on this, but still have an eye out.” 

“Of course sir. Would you like me to add Peter Parker?”

Tony thought about what Pepper said. “The kid would probably be better off if he didn’t, but I know Peter and he’ll dig to find this information. Yeah, send him the information as well FRIDAY. Thank you.”

The room fell silent, Tony sat there and waited. Thinking about his next move.

\------

Peter on the other hand was having the time of his life. The suit was amazing and he was already used to the ease of it. He let himself take in the scenery of the city as he flung himself into the air. The snow was starting to come in small cycles, but nothing he couldn’t handle.

The best part of it all was sitting on the top of the Empire State Building and watching the sunset. He pulled off the mask as a wave of cold air brushed his face. “I wish MJ was here…” The beautiful hue of red and orange let him relax. The excitement of the new suit and the frustration of the threat all faded in that moment. All that stood was him and the sun. 

Once the sunset was almost he looked at his watch. “7:43! I’ve got plenty of time left.” He looked at the edge of the building. He sprinted to the corner and jumped off the edge. “Woohoo!” He yelled before webbing a nearby structure that allowed him to swing over the streets of Manhattan. Peter winced as the web put so much pressure on his shoulder.

After some time of more gentle swinging he saw his watch light up with a number and then a cry. The first time his watch is used to help someone. He reached the source and was in an empty parking lot. A woman was held at gunpoint. The tears in her eyes were evident. 

Peter quietly approached then once he had a good view of the weapon he quickly webbed it and pulled it into his own hands. “I have always wondered why so many people in New York own a gun. Must be easy to get your hands on one.” 

“Why you-” The man started and Peter webbed his hands to the wall. “You should find a different occupation, because you’re not very good at robbing people.”

Peter ignored his yells and went over to the woman. He touched her arm and she flinched pulling away. “Oh, sorry. Are you alright?” 

She nodded, obviously shaken up. “Yes… this watch probably saved my life. I am guessing the watch notified you?”

Peter smiled, he was so flattered. “Yeah. It did.”

The woman smiled. “That Parker kid, he has made your job easier Spider-Man. Thank you for your help.”

Peter didn’t want her to leave and walk home alone after that. “Ma’am, can I take you home?”

The woman stopped and looked at Peter. “... Yeah, that would be nice. Also, did you get a suit upgrade? It looks different.”

\-------

Peter realized his time was almost out after he took her home. He stayed low to the ground on his way back. He stopped a couple petty crimes and landed in the Tower around 9:05pm.

“You’re late…” Peter snapped his head to find Tony sitting there waiting for him. 

“I had to finish some things. It’s not like I came back a half-hour late or anything. “Just a couple of minutes.”

Tony watched his walk past him as he took off his mask. Don’t freak out Tony, he’s fine. The kid was only 5 minutes late. “Yeah, but just be more careful next time… So, how did it go?”

Peter was relieved that Mr. Stark did go into parent mode. “Well, really well actually. Mr. Stark the suit is perfect! I’m going to take a quick shower. I’m kind of gross and you might gag if you get too close.” Peter chuckled and headed towards the bathroom. 

After 20 minutes he came out with ruffled wet hair, a large t-shirt and a pair of loose basketball shorts. “Ah, nothing beats a warm shower.” Peter sat down on the opposite end. “So, You wanted to ask me something?”

“Eager to get to the point. Makes it seem like you don’t want to be here.”

Peter looked offended. “Why wouldn’t I want to be at Stark Industries. The land of unimaginable tech.”

“We need to work on your nicknames.” He laughed. Tony shifted his position so he was more comfortable and then he simply looked at Peter. “To get a little serious here. Peter, you have been Spider-Man for a while now. You help the little guy, you are not one to only worry about terrorists. You want to be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. My question to you is why? Why do you do it?”

Peter looked at his hands. “Be-Because I’ve been me my whole life and I’ve had these powers for 6 months. I read books, I build computers and-and yeah I would love to play football, but I couldn’t then so I shouldn’t now.”

Tony chimed in. “Sure, cause you’re different.”

“Exactly, but I can’t tell anybody that so I’m not.” Peter paused for a moment and sighed. “When you can do the things I can, but you don’t.” 

Tony straightened up to show that he was paying attention.

“-and then the bad things happen. They happen because of you.” The room was silent and the two both took a moment to let it sink in.

“That’s why you look out for the little guy. Do your part, make the world a better place?”

“Yeah, yeah- that’s what it is. Just looking out for the little guy.” Peter said, bringing his legs to his chest. 

Tony smiled. “I’m glad, you’re one of the best people to have gotten this power. You’re humble Peter, every great hero needs humility. That’s something I try to have, but sometimes I can’t help it. You’re a good kid Peter.” Tony smiled. “Do you want something to drink?” He stood up from the couch. “I’ve got milk, water, apple juice-”

Peter’s head perked when he said apple juice.

Tony laughed. “Alright then.” He went and poured Peter a cup of Apple juice and grabbed himself a bottle of water. Then he gave Peter the juice and sat down on the couch.”

“Thanks Mr. Stark.”

“No problem kid. So, back to Spider-Man. Do you have any idea how you got these powers?”

Peter drank almost half his glass before taking a breath. “Well…” Peter looked to the side. “It’s kind of a long story.” 

Tony leaned back. “We’ve got all night, unless you want to watch a movie, then keep it short.” The two laughed together.

Once it died down Peter took a breath. “Well, it happened 6 months ago…”

**June 10th, 2016 (6 months earlier)**

Ned and Peter were walking towards OSCORP labs. Peter looked at the buildings and smiled. “Ned, I can’t believe you got us volunteer work here!” Peter said, straightening his backpack. 

Ned looked over. “Well, if we want to get our silver chords in highschool we should start the volunteer work early. Plus, OSCORP has some of the coolest tech aside from Stark Industries.”

Peter laughed. “Yeah, Stark Industries is impossible to get into. That place is only for the best of the best.” The two walked up the steps to the building and got the badges that allowed the two to enter the labs. 

“This is amazing, I can’t believe anything like this existed.” Ned marveled at the large lab where workers worked tirelessly. 

A young woman walked over to the two. “You must be the volunteers. We are working with large equipment so don’t go into unauthorized areas, and don’t touch anything you’re not supposed to. Everything can go wrong if something is out of order.”

The two nodded with complete understanding. For Peter this was huge. This would give him a chance to really learn something about high tech equipment. “Ma’am, what would our job be?” Peter asked as she almost walked away.

“Oh, you two stand by. If anyone needs you to print something or get files from the office they’ll let you know.” She walked away without another word.

“Seriously? That’s it. We’ll just wait around?” Peter was in utter shock and disbelief. 

Ned looked at Peter. “Just a minute. I’m going to the bathroom.” 

Peter nodded. “I’m going to look around a bit.” Once Ned left Peter made his way around the lab. Every so often someone in a white lab coat would push him aside. The machines were crazy, the tech did everything themselves. All the workers did was coding. 

The further he wandered into the building the more empty it became. As he walked around the building he stumbled upon a hallway with a single door and a tech code. “No way!” Peter ran over to it and looked at the door and then the code. “Oh my goodness, coding like this is child’s play. Why would they use it to lock something?” Peter swiped his fingers across the screen and tapped it a couple of times. 

“Boo-yah.” The door opened up to reveal a large white room. A machine connected to the wall was weaving sometype of web. “What the-” He looked around and found several capsules containing the OSCORP logo. Finally a room with a clear door reading restricted access.

Peter looked through the window and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Are those-?” He opened up the door and walked into the dimly lit room. Two walls spun in slow circles covered with spiders. There were millions in that room, forming webs and crawling around. On the walls, large strings were connected, curiosity got the best of Peter and he plucked one.

Suddenly everything stopped and was quiet. Peter put his hand over his mouth, he knew screwed up. Then the strings started to move up and down, little spiders fell from the webbing above. He stood with his eyes shut, the felt one landed on his head, his shoulder, a couple more on his head. 

Peter shook around trying to get them off. He swiped his hair and shook his jacket until they were gone. He brushed one last one off his shoulder before a shivered thinking about that. Everything in the room was back to normal and he left quickly. “I hate spiders.”

Peter walked out of the hallway to a very angry woman. “Uh… I was-”

“What did I tell you? This hallway says  _ OSCORP Employees only  _ that means you’re not allowed to go back there. Give me your badge and get out of this building.”

Peter was shocked, he just got yelled at. “Um-” This was embarrassing. Everyone was staring. “Yeah, okay.” He took off the badge and gave it to her.

“Now get out.” She said and walked away.

Peter nodded and took a step before a sharp pain erupted in the back of his neck. “Ahh.” He grabbed something and threw it to the ground. Peter looked to find a spider. He stepped on it totally freaked out by the whole thing. He rubbed his neck and passed by Ned.

“Dude where were you?” He asked, grabbing his arm.

Peter flinched and pulled away. “I have to go…” He walked away. His whole way home he was getting lightheaded. His head hurt and there was a sharp ringing in his ears. Once the bus he took stopped he got off and went to his apartment. 

“Hey Ben, Aunt May.” 

“Peter, Ben and I are almost finished with dinner. Maybe you can tell us about the volunteer work at the table?” 

Peter couldn’t get the ringing to leave his head. “Um, actually I don’t feel the greatest. I’m going to go to bed, goodnight.” He stumbled into his bedroom.

May and Ben looked at eachother. “What was that about?” Ben asked.

May shrugged her shoulder. “He might be catching a cold or something. We should let him rest to see if he is feeling better tomorrow.”

Peter shut his door and used the dresser to keep himself steady. Whatever that spider did really screwed him up. Is he going to die? Is the poison killing him? Why does his ribs hurt?

Peter stumbled over and dragged himself onto his bed. He put the pillow over his head trying to block out the ringing. In the midst of it all he fell asleep or lost consciousness. 

The next morning his alarm blared waking him up. He hit the snooze button and the whole clock shattered. The crash made him look over. “What-” He blamed it on the grogginess. 

A little later he dragged himself out of bed, he was feeling a million times better than before, but he still had to replace his clock. Peter stood up and went to brush his teeth. Once he popped off the cap an explosion of toothpaste hit the mirror. “What is going on here?” He used his toothbrush to wipe some onto it. He grabbed the handle of the sink and instead of turning it, the handle came off. Water started to spray across the room. Peter grabbed the hand towel and tried to stop it. 

In the rush of things he grabbed the door handle and the knob came off. Peter pushed the door and it completely broke the door bolt. He went to his room and sat at his office chair. His eyes were taking in the dust and detail of his room. Everything was so clear it was almost too much. 

What was happening to him? Why is he breaking everything he touches, just a path of destruction follows him. His phone started to ring and Peter jumped up sticking to his ceiling. When he realized what happened he let himself down landing on the floor. Then he grabbed his phone and answered it. “Hey Ned…”

_ “Peter what happened yesterday?” _

Peter stood up, looked at his hand, a piece of clothing was already sticking to it. “Well, I kind of wandered into a restricted area and got caught, so I’m not allowed back.” He said, trying to shake it off.

_ “Okay… are you alright? What's that noise?” _

“Uh, it’s nothing! I got to go.” Peter hung up the phone and used his foot to yank the shirt off. 

Ben opened up the door. “Are you alright? We heard all kinds of ruckus?” 

Peter immediately looked up. “Yes! I mean, I’m fine. I just fell out of bed, and breakfast is ready. I’m really hungry.”

Ben smiled. “You seem better.”

“Yeah, you can say that.” Peter followed Ben to the kitchen. He felt super light on his feet, like he can jump 20 feet in the air.

Peter sat down when a plate of eggs and bacon was set in front of him. “Thank you May.” He ate it all within’ seconds. “Do you have more?”

May looked at Peter with a cocked brow. “Y-yes, did you have a growth spurt overnight? You never really eat more than your eggs.”

Peter blushed a little embarrassed. “Yeah, maybe a little.” He ate what was given to him. Run upstairs to change and took his backpack. “I’m going out for a bit.”

Ben looked at him. “Be back by sundown.”

“Got it!” Peter called before leaving the house. Peter always loved nature, the summer breeze, the small of freshly cut grass, it was perfect. Ned texted him asking him to meet at the mall downtown.

When he arrived Ned held out a card. “The new legos went on the shelves today. Apparently there is a new Stars Wars set.”

Peter laughed. “You had me come all the way downtown for a legos?”

Ned looked at him. “It’s not just any legos Peter, it’s Star Wars legos. Big Difference.” 

Peter was a fan of Star Wars and legos. He understood the difference, it made me happy. Being able to take his mind of the odd morning he had. Shortly after walking around they landed themselves in the lego store. The place was huge, Ned ran over to the new releases. Sure enough was a lego collection. “So which one are you going to get. I know you can’t afford all of this.”

“I know, it’s heartbreaking. I can only afford one.” Ned grabbed the one from Revenge of the Sith.

“Are you sure, that’s kind of an older one?” 

“Yeah, I should probably get completely caught up before buying the new stuff. I can’t wait until my birthday.” 

Peter laughed as they got in line. The person right in front of them was yelling at the cashier that he was ripping them off. Peter put a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Dude, that’s not cool. He can’t control the price.” 

The man turned around and glared at Peter. “Oh yeah pretty boy, what are you going to do?”

Peter backed up. “C’mon man, I’m just telling you to lay off a little alright.” Peter was the muacho confident type.

“Yeah?! And I’m telling you to stay the hell out of it!” The man took a swing at Peter and his body completely bent back to dodge. 

“What the?” Peter’s body was doing it’s own thing. Every action that came his way was dodged and then when the man took a breath Peter jabbed his elbow into the man’s stomach and he flew across the floor and hit the wall. 

Peter was shocked, he left the store as the mall cops came in to assess the situation. He was out of there and Ned came following behind. “What was that? That was amazing Peter.”

“Ned… can I just. Uh, I need to be alone for a bit. I’m sorry.” Peter said walking away leaving his friends behind. What was happening to him? He spent the rest of the day in the park. He was confused, stuff like this shouldn’t happen to people. Was it the Spider, is that what was making him this mutant? He looked around and saw the sunset. “Ben and May will get worried if I don’t head home soon.” 

Peter made his way home and arrived when night was about to set in. “Peter, come with me. I need to go pick up some eggs and I want to talk to you.” Ben said as he came inside. 

The two were outside and in minutes they walked to the nearest convenience store. “Peter, you were acting pretty odd this morning. What’s going on with you?”

Peter looked at Ben. “Ah, I’m just a little stressed lately. I’m starting high school in a couple months. It’s nothing really.” 

Ben put his hands in his pockets. “Nothing, huh. You’re a terrible liar, you know that?” 

Peter glared at him. “I-I’m not! Whatever.” He crossed his arms.” They got to the store. “I’ll wait outside.”

Ben smiled before walking in. Peter stood out there on his phone looking at Instagram. His ears picked up on a small click. He looked through the window, the man that walked in had a gun in his waistband. Peter saw the man, he saw the gun, and he saw Ben at the register. 

Frozen in fear he watched the man point the gun at the cashier. Everything started to move in slow motion as Ben grabbed the gun trying to defend the cashier. Then the gun went off and Ben fell to the ground. 

Peter watched as the man ran out of the store and Peter could only watch him flee. When reality sunk in and the noise of the world came back in full he ran inside the store as blood started to pool around his uncle. 

“Ben… Ben.” He fell to his knees. “Call an ambulance! Someone, he needs help.” His voice was scratched and really rough. Tears ran like waterfalls. “No, no. Ben, you need to wake up. C’mon, this is selfish! You can’t leave me too.” 

Ben’s hand reached up and grabbed Peter’s. “Peter… Take care of May alright.” 

Peter nodded. “Yeah, but you’re going to help me. You’ll be there too.” Peter grabbed his uncle’s shirt and laid his head on his chest. “Don’t leave me, please.” What seemed like time running slow the Police and ambulance were in there. 

Someone grabbed his arm trying to pull him off. “Stop, just give me some time…. Please.” The room was chatterful people asking the cashier what he knew. Peter tried to suck it up but then heard a police officer's intercom go off. 

_ “Yes, the suspect was last seen on 34th street head north east.”  _

Peter’s head shot up. He ran out of the store. “I’m sorry Ben.” Then headed towards the area with nothing but a red hoodie, mutant powers, and blood boiling rage.

**Stark Industries, Friday December 8th**

“Wait, I thought your uncle passed away while you were in the car. Also, it said that Spider-Man was seen chasing the culprit.” Tony said, confused by the details.

Peter raised a brow. “No, the media put their own version of the story to the public. Also, Spider-Man did chase after him, that was the night that the vigilante.” He pointed at himself. “Was born.”

Peter then looked at Mr. Stark. “How did you know about my uncle?”

“I read your file.”

Peter nodded in understanding. “Now, back to the story.”

**Queens, June 11th, 9:58pm**

Peter rushed out of there with the speed of a bullet. Complete anger consumed all rationality. He zipped past streets and climbed buildings with ease. He reached the top of a building before he found the car coming his way.

With Peter’s perfect calculation he jumped at the perfect moment landing right on the man’s getaway vehicle. Peter punched a hole through the roof of the car. He grabbed the wheel of the car. The man frantically pulled out the gun and Peter used his other hand crushing the barrel. “Now, listen to me!” Peter’s voice was gruff. “You are going to stop this vehicle and let the police get you. Or, I’ll drive this tin can into a wall and only one of us will walk out alive.”

Then the man didn’t do anything at first. “Fine, whatever you want” Peter was about to turn the wheel when the man stopped the car. “Good choice.” He knocked the man out before jumping onto a building. 

That night I sat on a building looking at the moon. He called May, she already knew, but he wanted her to know that he is just letting off some steam and will be home soon. The summer breeze dried the tears that ran down his cheeks. 

That night he looked at what he did, nothing. He didn’t do enough to protect the person he cared about the most. His young fragile mind didn’t comprehend the severity. Peter swore that he would be the one who helped the little. Save other peoples loved ones because he couldn’t save his own. 

**Stark Industries, Friday December 8th**

“That’s your story… you really are an amazing kid Peter.” Tony finished the water bottle. 

Peter downed his apple juice and walked over putting it in the sink. “Mr. Stark… I know this might be a sensitive topic, but since we are kind of putting everything out there… Why did you continue being Iron Man after you escaped? You had everything. Why did you give it up.”

Tony threw the plastic bottle in the recycling and sat back down on the couch this time right next to Peter. “Well, I had seen a lot of things in that cave. I saw destruction, and I saw the kindest of hearts. It changed me forever.” Tony put a hand across Peter’s shoulders. “I came to realize something.”

Peter relaxed and looked at his mentor. “What is that?”

Tony smiled. “Life is more important than fame and fortune… I stopped all weapon creation because it was killing people. The people I wanted to protect were being killed by my weapons. A man gave his life so I could change mine. That is what I did…” He squeezed Peter’s shoulder. “A look, I met the smartest kid in the world and I don’t regret it for a second.”

Peter smiled and looked at Mr. Stark tears pricking his eyes. He felt like a teenage girl, showing all his emotions, clear as day. 

Tony smiled. “Come here.”

Peter leaned in and hugged Mr. Stark. “Thank you.” He whispered in his ear. 

“Any time, kid. Any time.” He said before breaking it off. “Now that we are finished with this man talk, you wanna watch a movie or something?”

Peter laughed at the man's talk comment. “Yeah, ohh. I have got a perfect movie.”

Tony raised a brow. “If it's a High School Musical, I’m leaving.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “No, I know a good movie and this is one of the best. Presenting  _ 007’s Spectre. _ ” 

“James Bond. I like your taste.” Tony said as they both situated themselves on each end of the couch.

The two watched the movie and Peter was out at the end of the 2 ½ hour film. “Time for bed. Why am I always tucking you in.” He laughed as he gently put a pillow under Peter’s head and draped a blanket across him. “Night Kid, we’ll talk about vacation tomorrow.” He looked at the boy and smiled before heading back to his room with Pepper. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Sorry for the late update, but hopefully these next few will be more consistant.


	9. Chapter Nine: Fun in the Sun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so here we go. It's a fun bonding chapter with a little tension. I hope you like it, it was a fun one to write. Also, I am in finals week of school so I am officially done this coming Friday! Also I am 'graduating' on the 17th, but our ceremony isn't until June. Anyway, hope you like the chapter.

**Stark Industries, December 15th**

“Tony, are you sure that’s a good idea? With everything that is happening that seems a little risky.” Steve commented from his work area. 

Tony spun his chair around to look at him. “Maybe, but I also am using it to my advantage. On our way back I am setting up a decoy plan. No passenger or pilot, seeing if anything happens.”

Natasha ran in the room and everybody looked at her. “I was analysing the footage that FRIDAY sorted. The same suspect… I think it was Ceal, the nerdy kid. He has been in the tower on multiple occasions. He was actually here the day before we found their identity. One time he came in with the man Vex. They talked with some employees, but that’s it.”

Bruce’s head snapped up. “Who did he talk to? If your theory on someone working inside the building is correct. Then he could have talked to that man within that period.”

Nat looked through the photos that were printed out. “I think that is unlikely.”

Clint looked at her. “How so?”

She looked at the group. “The information I had gotten from the two in custody said that three of the four were above average size. We are looking for someone his size.” She said pointing at Clint. “The largest person he talked to was an old lady.”

Tony’s confused look contoured his face. “What? What’s her job?” Tony never thought some old person worked in his building.

Steve looked at him. “I think she cleans the first 4 floors. You need to get to know your staff.”

Tony shrugged. “I have like 300 workers. I am not going to sit down and pick out everyone’s name.”

“Okay, we are way off topic.” Bruce said, interjecting the mini feud. “Tony, while you’re gone we are going to interview everyone who is the least bit suspicious of doing this.” 

Clint nodded. “Yeah, we were planning on recording and then sending the video to you.”

Nat finished him. “It’s easier to see if they’re lying if you look at their body language.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Tony smiled and stood from his spinning chair. “Sounds good. Alright, this information is confidential, no one must know. The only other people I trust with this is Rodney and Peter. They will be informed in a different and more private manner.”

The room was silent as they all knew it was agreed. “Now I need to go-”

“Wait.” Natasha interrupted him. “Tony, can I talk to you, alone.” Her expression was stoic.

He couldn’t read her, he never could. “Fine. Let’s go.”

They both entered the elevator together. “We have been so focused on catching these guys that we completely lost sight of their motive. We need to know why they’re doing this?”

Tony put his fingers to his temples. “I thought we already established that they want me ruined.”

The elevator and they both stopped talking. Nat pulled him into the first empty room. “Sure, that’s the whole reason they tried to kill your workers and tried to kidnap your intern. These don’t add up to just sabotage. What is their ultimate goal and why are they doing it? That’s what we need to figure out.” 

Tony put his hands in his pockets. “Okay, you got a point. Tell you what, I will focus on motives and you try and track these guys down. We haven’t found a trace of them since we saw their identity. We haven't been threatened since the party. I feel like the next hit will be a little more deadly.”

“If we don’t catch him first.” Nat smiled. “Don’t worry Tones, we’ll get em’.” She winked before leaving the room.

\-------

Peter was skipping in the hallway. It was last week that Peter was informed that he was leaving with Mr. Stark for his winter vacation. May didn’t have any plans and it didn’t help that Peter practically begged. 

Mr. Stark came to him after an internship day and asked him if he would like to go to Hawaii for a week over his winter break. To serve as a break from all this crap. Peter was overjoyed. Heck, he’s barely been out of the state. 

“Ned, can you believe it? I get to go to Hawaii!” Peter almost yelled in the hallway. 

Ned was as excited as him. “Dude! When do you leave?” 

“Saturday… shoot, I have to pack.” Peter stopped realizing he hasn’t prepared. He has been trying to get as much Spider-Man work and contain his excitement for the past week that he didn’t prepare. 

They walked into their final class of the day and sat in their seats. It was math, a class Peter didn’t ever pay attention because he knew everything already. He opened up his bag and was going to grab a pencil, instead he felt a wadded piece of paper. “What the-?”

He pulled it out and flattened it out. It was written in beautiful cursive. 

_ Come to Christopher Park tonight @10:30pm.  _

Peter looked around, no one looked or even glanced at him. It made chills run up his spine. Was it those people? Did they find a way to get in his backpack. How? The rest of class he was thinking on how he should go. In the end he decided that he will show up as Peter Parker, but tuck the web shooters under his sleeves.

After school he went to their final decathlon practice before break. It was really a schedule for the next couple months. Nationals were in March and they had to properly prepare.

After that he took a bus home. Someone tried to run off with someone's backpack. He discreetly webbed his coat to a light pole. Then went on his way as if nothing happened. His mind was still filled with thoughts about the notes. Tony gave him instructions on who to look for and nobody like that had interacted with him. He was confused, couldn’t wrap his head around it. 

**10:00pm**

Peter made sure his aunt May was fast asleep before slipped on a light gray hoodie and a pair of loose jeans. Then he was out the door and ready to face whatever this was.

He walked into the park, his spidey sense didn’t go off in the slightest. One thing that did start was rainfall. Peter looked up as the water came down. “Is this some prank… no one is here and I am stu-” Peter heard someone’s voice.

“No, this is not what was supposed to happen!” A woman's voice said. It was somewhat familiar.

Peter walked towards the tree and looked behind it. There he saw MJ sitting with her head in his hands. “Hey.”

MJ’s eyes widened as she looked up at Peter. In no time at all she was on her feet and pushing back wet hair that stuck to her face. “Peter… w-what are you doing here?” She looked down her usual demeanor completely fading and totally off guard.

“Just responding to this lovely note someone wrote to me.” Peter already knew it was her. “So, why did you write it.” 

MJ looked up and then down again. “How do you know that I wrote it?”

“Well, it’s 10:30 at night, it’s pouring rain, and we are the only ones in this park. Seems like a bit more than a coincidence.”

Michelle sighed and looked at Peter. “Yes, it was me who wrote the letter. I was-” She hesitated. “I was wondering if you want to get coffee after school tomorrow?” 

Peter blushed and then came up with an immediate response. “Of course. MJ I would love to, but we should probably get out of this rain.” Peter put his hood up and a collection of rainfall landed on his head and on his skin. “Didn’t think about that.”

Both of them laughed before Peter got her home as soon as possible. When he dropped her off he said his goodbye and swung the rest of the way home and landed inside getting a large puddle of dripping water in his room. “Yes!” He whispered not to wake May. He could barely contain his excitement.

He lied in bed after changing and texted Me. Stark that he wouldn’t be able to be at the internship lab tomorrow. A quick response texted back saying it was fine. Peter curled up in his blanket and tried his best to fall asleep. 

\------

After school Friday Peter met with MJ at the Ground’s House, a local cafe. MJ and Peter both sat in silence for a minute. “Okay, this is weird. I have never done this before.” Peter said sheepishly.

MJ looked up. “Neither had I, it’s like, what do we talk about? Are we supposed to start with small talk or what?”

Peter laughed. “Alright, let’s start with small talk. What your favorite color?”

“Black, you?”

“Red” Peter said. “Favorite animal?”

“Oh, that’s a hard one. Probably… a horse. They’re graceful, but very deadly.” MJ said. “Horses kill about 72 people each year.”

“Really? I didn’t know that?” Peter took a drink and the two continued talking about each other's favorite things and their hobbies. 

About 30 minutes into their date the two were more comfortable and less stiff. MJ shifted in her seat. “Can I ask you something?”

Peter raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, yeah, what is it?”

“Um… I’ve noticed that you just randomly leave all the time. Whether it’s during class or decathlon practice. Is something else going on?” She had her own suspicions, but wanted to know what he had to say.

Peter froze. “Uh, it just… gas pains. Yeah, I’ve been having some problems with it lately. My doctor told me to go to the bathroom right away.” He said, finishing his drink. 

MJ laughed. “Gas pains! Are you serious? That is the lamest excuse I have ever heard anyone use. I won’t pry into it if you don’t want to tell me. I was just curious.”

After that the two shortly finished their first date. Peter waved as she walked away. “I’ll call you alright.”

MJ smiled and left. He loved that genuine smile of hers, it was sweet and kind. It was like the other side of her personality.

Peter would have claimed to have been high on life. He just got a master upgrade on his Spider-Man suit, he’s heading for Hawaii tomorrow, and he is now dating his dream girlfriend. It couldn’t get better. 

**Saturday 9:15am**

“Yes, I have scheduled for the flight to leave at 10:00am. Thank you.” Pepper hung up the phone and rubbed her temples. Then the doors opened to her room. “Tony, I have a lot to do and I can’t deal with you right now.”

“Um, actually it’s Peter.”

She looked from her computer and smiled. “I’m sorry Peter. With this whole threat thing the media has been on to you and Tony since the party. Everybody is trying to get the scoop on what really happened.”

Peter fidgeted with his sleeves. “Sorry… must be stressful. Here, I brought you this. It’s a thank you gift. I know that Tony, ah, Mr. Stark has been a handful as well as myself and I just wanted to give it to you as a Thank You gift.” He set a small box of strawberries and kiwi’s on her desk.

Pepper’s mouth was agape. “Thank you Peter. I appreciate you going out of your way to get me something. 

He smiled. “I thought you deserved it. Now, I need to see T- Mr. Stark. He’s probably waiting for me in the lab.” Peter left the room and took the elevator to the lab. 

“There he is. Where were you, Happy said you got here 10 minutes ago?” Tony said while Peter walked in. 

“Oh, I had to talk to Ms. Potts. That’s all.”

Tony looked at Peter. “You talked to Pepper? About what?”

“Nothing really, I just gave her some fruit as a thank you. She was really greatful about it.” Peter crossed his arms.

Tony’s head popped when he heard fruit. He looked at Peter. “What kind of fruit was it?”

Peter furrowed his brow. “What? Why do you care? They're not for you.” Tony looked at him. “They were strawberries and kiwi’s.” 

The two walked into the elevator and Tony just rubbed his temples. He decided to spare Peter a lecture. He didn’t know and Pepper won’t eat them because she is allergic. It’s fine, everything will be fine. 

When the door opened they were on the roof where the jet was almost ready to take off. “All your stuff was loaded up. Have you ever been on a jet before?” Tony asked, looking at Peter.

He looked shocked with his mouth open wide. “I’ve never been on a plane before.” Peter looked at the tech room as well as the collection of seats. He ran over to the window. 

Tony laughed. “I’m guessing you like it?”

Peter smiled. “This is amazing Mr. Stark! I don’t know how to thank you.”

Tony sat down in a seat. “Thank me by having fun. You deserve it. Your watch, Pepper has been getting constant order requests because they’re selling out so fast. That invention of yours is helping a lot of people and it shows.”

Peter pushed away from the window. “You really are the best Tony… ah I mean Mr. Stark. That was innapr-”

“It’s fine. I’d prefer if you’d call me Tony. Saying Mr. Stark makes me feel old.” They both cuckled and tried to enjoy the next 10 hour jet ride to Hawaii. 

**Hawaii 9:53pm**

“Peter, hey. Time to wake up kid.” Tony was trying to wake up Peter.

“M’tired. Go away.” Peter’s tone was high pitched. He was maybe half awake. 

Tony sighed. “You make me have to do this.” He grabbed the blanket draped over Peter and pulled it off. “Get up.”

He reached for it and missed. “What the heck?” Peter rubbed his eyes and looked around. “Why did you do that?”

“We’re here.” Tony said. 

He ran past him and outside. “Mount.  Kīlauea, That’s incredible.”

“Get your stuff unloaded and into that town car. We have a hotel room already.”

Peter nodded and grabbed his stuff. Within minutes they had everything loaded up and headed to the five star hotel Tony had reserved. The large burst of energy that Peter had, quickly faded when he laid down on the bed. Out like a light.

“How does he do this. He falls asleep in the oddest places and positions.” Tony chuckled and put Peter’s foot on the bed and took off both his shoes. He looks at Peter’s peaceful face and smiles. “Good Night kid.” He then took off his own shoes and got into bed falling into an almost peaceful sleep. 

\-------

_ Peter woke up in a black room and sat up and found nothing around him. No bed, no floor, no walls. Just blackness surrounding him. “What is this?” He stood up and turned in circles trying to find a way out, or find anything.  _

_ He decided to walk, it's the only thing he could do. Walking into complete nothingness makes it seem like he was on a treadmill, until there was a pinch of light that peeked through. “Finally.” Peter ran towards the opening of light as it grew larger and larger. When he put his hand out to meet it a door shut blocking the light. _

_ Suddenly Peter’s feet gave out and he started to fall, a noise filled his head. He wanted to cover his ears, but something was stopping him. His whole body, he couldn’t move. The pain hit him when he slammed into a surface. The floor met up with him, he couldn’t move anything, but his head. A word in large white letters appeared: BETRAYED. Was all he could see. _

_ \------- _

Peter sprung from his bed and almost hit the lamb beside the bed. “What happened?” He looked at the clock. It was already seven. Peter looked and Tony was still asleep. He slowly got out of bed and walked over to Tony’s bed. He put his hand on the sheets ready to pull them off.

“Don’t you even dare.” Tony said, not opening his eyes. 

Peter raised a brow. “Okay, have it your way then.” He walked to the curtains and opened them wide. “Ready for a day full of fun and sunshine!” He grabbed his suitcase and pulled out a pair of gray basketball shorts and a black muscle tank. Then went to the bathroom doing his usual routine. Brush teeth, shower, get dressed, done and ready to go.

Peter stepped out and Tony was in khaki shorts, T-shirt, and a cardigan. He was putting on a pair of sunglasses to finish the look. “How did you? You got ready so fast.”

Tony smiled and looked at him. “Peter, you take 20 minute showers. I had more than enough time to get ready.” He put on a small back pact. “Well Mr. Parker. We have got one heck of a day planned. So I suggest you prepare yourself.”

The next couple hours were filled with sunshine and hawian delicacies. There was music around every corner and for the small population of the state it seemed to be quite festive. Tony and Peter did most of their sight seeing for the first day. Getting to look at all the city had to offer. 

That evening both have already started to sport a slight tan or sunburn. Sitting at a table of an outside restaurant they tried to calm down a bit. “Mr. St- Tony. When that tourist asked if you were Tony Stark’s brother… do you even have a brother?”

Tony took off his glasses. “No, I am an only child.” He chuckled. The waitress came over and asked for their orders. Picking ordinary dishes she let them be. He looked at his mentee. “Alright Peter. So, tomorrow I need to know what you want to do. Choose 1 or 2.”

Peter smirked and leaned on the table. “Do I get any hints on these choices?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “You’ll get to do both. I just want it to be a surprise.”

“Oh.” Peter deflated a little. “Then… number 2.”

Tony raised his eyebrows. The waitress gave them their drinks. “So what do you think? How do you like Hawaii?”

Peter took a sip through his straw. “Well I am already earning myself a tan, so that’s pretty cool. I didn’t know that Hawaii looked kind of like a downsized New York. I was thinking it was more like Iowa or something down tempo.”

Tony laughed. “Peter, Iowa is full of corn fields.”

“I meant the cities, like the capital Des Moines.”

“Okay, National Geographic.” Tony looked at his watch. At nine there is a firework show at the beach by our hotel. If we leave once we’re done eating we can probably catch it.”

“Fireworks? I’ve haven’t been one to really enjoy fireworks…” Peter’s voice faded as he took another sip from his straw.

“How do you not enjoy fireworks?” Tony thanked the waitress as she set their orders in front of them.

Peter ate one of his steakfries. “Well, for one. After my powers I have been terrified on how amplified the sound will be and…”

Tony took a bite from his sandwich. When swallowed and Peter still had yet to answer. “And?…”

Peter laughed a little. “Okay, if I tell you this you have to keep it a secret.”

“Who would I tell.”

“Pepper”

“That’s fair. Okay, I promise to keep this a secret.”

Peter took a breath to compose his laughter. “Alright, when I was ten or eleven Ben, May, and I were out of state to visit Ben’s brother or something. Anyway, they live in Ohio so there was a lot of country land and all that jazz. Well, my other uncle had fireworks that we did that night in the backyard. They used an old stump to set the firework down.” He giggled a little before taking another breath. “Well… after my uncle lit the firework and moved away. It tipped over. The fireworks were flying everywhere and of course we were running away. I was running and one blew right in front of me. I thought I was going to die.”

Tony’s eyes were wide. “Right in front of you?! Did it like go off or was it just one of those stream ones?”

Peter laughed. “Just one of the streams luckily. If it was anything else it might’ve blown up in my face.” He ate some of his food. “Let’s do it, but can we watch it from a further part of the city so my hearing isn’t blown out from the booms?”

“Of course Peter. I’m not going to tourture you for something like that. If anything bothers your senses you need to tell me. I’m still trying to figure out how your body works.” 

Peter smiled. “Thank Tony. Means a lot.”

“Anytime Peter. Anytime.”

After a delicious meal they went to the city lines and watched the fireworks from a higher point of view. It was just Tony and Peter sitting and watching the firework show. Some would see it was nice, others would call it the perfect father/son moment.

**Monday, Vacation Day #2**

Around 1 o’clock in the afternoon Tony had taken Peter to the docks. “Here is where your choice landed you last night Peter.”

“Are you talking about the number thing?”

“Yeah, We’ve got the sun, a large cold lake, and 80 degree weather.” Tony walked towards a boat where there were two people. “I say my good old friends here would mind taking us for a couple rounds of tubing.”

“Tubing.” Peter walked to Mr. Stark on the boat and took a seat. “What is that?”

Tony gave him a blank look. “Wow, you don’t get out much. Okay, well I think you should experience it first.”

Tony watched Peter put a life jacket on and tried to contain his laughter. The first time he went tubing he had intense whiplash. Every Time they went he had a tradition of trying to knock the person riding off.

Peter got onto the inner tube attached to the back of the boat. “Okay, so don’t let go and you’ll be fine.” Tony let the inner tube float out onto the water with Peter sitting inside unknown of what was about to come his way.

“Alright, Sebastian. Start the boat, you know what to do. Tony sat down.

Peter watched the rope between the tube and boat tighten. He gripped the handles a little tighter. “Woah.” The tube jerked as the speed kept rising. 

The boat turned and the tube started to jump the humps of water. Peter could feel himself lift off the tube it was fun, but he was doing his best not to fall off. After the boat got to what seemed to be full speed. The wind and water splashing his Peter’s face made it hard to see. 

Suddenly a large bump made him fly a couple feet in the air. Peter freaked out and almost let go. “Woah!” The inner tube landed back on the water with Peter still holding on for dear life. The wind picked and that put wind under the tube. Peter was on for about 4 minutes before a large wind flipped his tube mid-air. It landed facedown in the water and Peter popped up in the lake. 

The boat came around and Tony pulled him back into the boat.

“That was incredible!” Peter said, wiping wet hair from his face. “Are you going to do it Mr. Stark?” 

“Tony, and maybe once, but they’ll probab;y go easy on me. I thought you would fall off sooner. There were times when you were almost five to six feet in the air. I would've been hilarious if you fell off.” 

Peter smiled and sat on the edge of the boat. “Super strength.” He did a little jazz hands to show it off.

Tony took it off and looked at Peter. “Here, do a round with me.”

“Two people can do it at once?”

“Actually, about 3 people can. The tube is huge, did you think only one person was allowed?” He watched Peter get on and Tony climbed onto the other side. “Okay, I already know I am going to fall off first so they’ll stop it once I fall off.”

“Okay!” Peter almost shouted as they went again. 

For the next couple of hours they went. Taking a few breaks to just enjoy the weather. Around 4 o’clock they got off brushing themselves off with towels. “That was super fun M-Tony.” The weirdest part about his name wasn’t the informality, but the lack of syllables. Peter ruffled up his hair with the towel and created a mess of hair. “I think I look great with my new shaggy look.”

“That’s great kid.” He smiled. “Now that we had our fun we have to check in with the others about their progress. Nat sent me a text saying she found something essential.”

Peter nodded immediately knowing that the fun and games are over and now it’s time to get serious. 

The two went into the hotel room and Peter and Tony took turns to shower and wash off the muck. Then they changed into warm comfy clothes. They both took a chair and sat down at the desk where Tony sat down his phone and a hologram of Steve appeared. “Glad you both can make it. Hope you’re having a good time.”

Peter nodded enthusiastically.

“Alright, so we have made some progress of our own.” Steve said. Natasha joined him on screen. “Yes, so the most recent info we have received is that there have been bomb blueprints stolen from the tower's archives. It was discovered in the last stock check, we went back to camera footage and found this.”

A video showed a young boy they have never seen before sneaking in and grabbing it from a shelf. Peter leaned over Tony to look at the screen. “Thats… That kid is in my gym class! His name is…”

“Seymour O’Reilly.” Bruce finished. “We did facial recognition and after we brought him in for questioning it seemed that he was forced in by an unknown source.” 

Nat chimed in. “After watching more footage to see how he got in and out, he already had a badge when he entered the building. Seymore claimed that they gave him the badge and told him to grab three blueprint sheets and then leave. They threatened to hurt his sister if he didn’t cooperate.”

Peter leaned back. “Jeez, whoever the hell did this is determined.”

Tony glanced at Peter. “Yeah, but my question is why they threatened a child rather than using someone who already worked in the building.” 

Clint overheard Tony’s comment and slid into camera view. “They probably knew someone could recognize them. They are now entering the final stages of this. Their advancements are going to be more active so they need to keep their identities under wraps.”

Peter looked at everyone and then Tony. “What about the blue prints they stole? Didn’t you say they were instructions for bombs.”

Steve nodded. “Yeah, That is the concerning part. The ones they stole were #243, #1920, and #893.”

Tony’s head flew up. “Did you say #893?”

Steve nodded. 

“That is the smallest and most destructive bomb I have ever created. All those blueprints are tiny, but destructive explosives.” Tony looked at Peter and then the screen again. “They’re planning something… Have FRIDAY scan for amatax or ammonium phosphate on anyone who enters the building. Someone might be planting bombs in the building. They won’t set off until I get back though. Clint said they are entering the final stages, that means my elimination. Good work guys, send me anything else you figure out.” Tony ended the call with them. 

Peter looked at Tony. “Do you really think someone will try to destroy Stark Industries?”

Tony walked over and sat in one of the beds. “Peter, these people aren't playing around. When we get back I am going to reduce the staff to a minimum until we catch them…”

Peter looked at his watch. It was only 6pm. “Do you think I can go on a walk on the beach?”

Tony raised his brow. “Yeah, I’ll order a pizza in a bit. Oh, take your web shooters. Never hurts to be safe.”

Peter grabbed his shooters and he left the hotel room and went out to the waters that splashed over the sand. There were only two or three others on the beach as the sun was almost completely out of view. He took off his shoes and let his feet sink into the wet sand. 

“I wish it was like this every night.” He said and suddenly his senses went off. Very faint, but something was wrong. He looked around and could see anything. “What the.” Then he felt a sharp pain on his toe. “Ow” He looked and found a crab pinching his foot. He pried it off his foot and set it away from him and wiped sand from his feet putting his shoes back on.

Tony sat in the room and was doing research on the files he pulled from FRIDAY’s system. “These bombs, if you were going to blow a building you would need a large amount of each…” He ran his hands through his hair. “There is just so much going on it's hard to keep track of it all. Okay so it started with the shrine, then the hacks, then the materials feild, then the drugging, then the magazine… Those are the threats. The hacks that Peter and Adrik broke through. I swear there is more than what they did. If I can track a proper I.P. address I can maybe… of course.” The screen said.  _ I.P. address does not exist.  _ “Ahh this whole thing has my head spinning.”

Tony looked at the other side of the room where Peter’s stuff was somewhat put together. “Such a weirdo.” He laughed before putting the files away and ordering a pizza for them. 

Peter came back right when the pizza guy was at their door. Tony paid the man and the two sat at the mini table and ate their delicacy. “The view from the beach is really nice. A crab pinched my foot though.” Peter took a huge bite from a piece of pizza.

“A crab? Aren’t you supposed to be able to dodge anything?” Tony laughed and Peter tried to look upset, but he couldn’t.

**Friday, Vacation Day #5**

They have made some progress on the threat and found another location to search. When they arrived it was abandoned like the last. The only clue of knowing they were there was a torn up blueprint sheet.

“Our last full day here. I can’t believe we’re leaving tomorrow.” Peter said. 

Tony looked at his phone. “Yep! Today I was thinking we can maily stay in the city and then we'll have dinner at the beach. Sounds good?”

Peter put on his sunglasses. “Sounds like a plan.” The two fist bumped and continued into the city. They took pictures of themselves at a sculpture garden. Then they stopped at a Wal-Mart to pick up sunscreen. “I am finally starting to burn.” Tony said and looked at Peter’s burned shoulders. “Look, you’re turning into Spider-Man. The red is forming on your skin.”

Peter rubbed sunscreen on his shoulders. “Ha ha very funny. It’s going to suck when I swing. My shoulders are going to hurt from this burn.” Peter applied some to his arms and neck as did Tony.

The rest of the day was spent at parks or sightseeing. Kind of a nice way to end their vacation. They were at the same outdoor restaurant they went to the first night they were there.

“Excited to go back and be the hero?” Tony asked.

Peter looked up and smiled. “Yeah, I kind of miss the suit. Spider-Man is a part of me. It was weird to part with him for so long.”

“Yeah, I get that. I have a hard time being away from my lab. Making suits is what I do in my free time. I have made hundreds of suits that I enjoy trying come up with new models.”

Peter laughed. “We are a couple of geeks.” 

Tony agreed, taking a sip of his drink. Their food came shortly after and they both quickly swallowed down their meals.

On their way Tony got a call from Pepper. Peter texted MJ while he was on the phone.

“What happened!?” Tony said full of concern. Pepper sounded panicked. He could hear Natasha in the background so he knew they were okay. “Pepper, calm down and breathe.”

Peter looked up from his phone and at Tony. “What’s wrong?”

Tony shrugged his shoulders. “Alright, now tell me what happened.”

“ _ Um, Happy was getting ready for a meeting and he was using your blue Audi. He was about 10 feet away when he unlocked it and the whole thing exploded. Right in the street!” _

“Is Happy okay?” Tony asked.

There was some shuffling on the other line. Nat started to talk.  _ “Yes, he is fine. He is in med bay for minor injuries. Tony, you need to get back as soon as possible. We pulled the remains from the car and inside was a fire proof case. Inside was a large piece of paper saying ‘this is the final stage.’ I don’t know what's going on, but we need to get to the bottom of it.” _

“Yeah, Peter and I will head out as soon as possible.” Tony hung up the phone. 

“Tony, what's going on?” 

“We’re going to catch these damn fools who decided to attack.”

They headed out that night and arrived back at the Tower that morning. It was snowing hard in New York when they returned. Tony and Peter walked into the living room where everyone who had any intel on the case was.

Tony looked at everyone and set a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Alright, this is what is going to happen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter it's going to get real. Lot's of action in the next chapter and things are going to get heavy. I hope you're as excited as I am!


	10. Chapter Ten: Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, it's finally here. We have finally dug into the action. A lot is revealed in this chapter so I hope you like it. Also, I hope everyone is staying healthy. I just finished my finals, good luck to everyone else in school and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Monday 5:00pm**

Tony walked through hallways with Pepper at his side. Workers all around them were packing up all their items and leaving the building. 

“Tony, for how long this may go do you still plan on paying everyone? You are putting a lot of people out of work for a while.” Pepper said looking through the papers on her clipboard.

“Well, I don’t want my whole company to pay for this. With Peter’s new product the company should be able to still pay the workers, but it will be cut by about a 3rd.”

Pepper knitted her brow. “Are you sure, that’s not as much as I was thinking.”

Tony looked at her. “Like I said Pep. I can’t ruin these people’s lives for something that only concerns me.”

Pepper smiled. “That’s really sweet Tony… oh. Adrik would like to see you in the intern labs.”

“The intern lab? Why?”

\-------

“Adrik? Hey, you wanted to see me?” Tony said coming into the room.

Adrik turned around. “Thank you for coming. I wanted to show you this.” He pulled out some papers. “You said that you are worried about people that could be working with these people right. I think someone inside the building is working with them, but I’m not sure who they are. I was looking through the footage and found this woman. She looks to be middle aged and she only went to the basement when she came. These are the timestamps she was here.”

Tony raised a brow. “Okay, she was only here for a half-hour? FRIDAY, scan these times and get me and identification on this woman. Thank you Adrik. This is helpful. Did Peter already leave?” 

Adrik looked up. “Yeah, he had a date with his girlfriend so he left a little early.”

“Oh…” Tony looked around. “I thought he would tell me. Guess he was in a rush. I’m going to go upstairs and look over this video, try to find anything that might reveal her goal.”

Adrik stopped him. “Mr. Stark, I am going to be gone the next couple of days. I have some personal stuff I need to deal with if that's okay.”

Tony nodded head to the elevator. “Why wouldn’t he tell me first. I didn’t even know he had a girlfriend. That must be who he was texting while we were in Hawaii.” Tony looked at his phone. “Should I text him?” He wasn’t sure if that was the right move. 

He looked at his phone and sent him a quick text. 

_ Hey bud, why’d you leave early today? _

Tony put his phone in his pocket and walked into the lab where Bruce was looking over some files. “Hey we might have new information on someone who is a part of this whole thing.”

“Boss, I have found the identity of the woman.” FRIDAY spoke over the intercoms. “Her name is Hannah Peter’s. She is 32 and has worked in the building for 10 years. She was fired from the building 2 years ago after she was caught stealing chemicals from the lab.”

Tony’s eyes widened. “What chemicals did she take FRIDAY?” He got onto the computer and started to do an inventory check on the basement chemicals. “Sir, she stole Ammonium Nitrate viles. In all she took about 1 liter worth.”

Tony looked at the inventory and there were a few shortages. “FRIDAY can you confirm that she had taken titanium, metal alloy, and ammatax.” Tony knitted his brow. “Why didn’t she take ammonium phosphate?” 

“Sir, it cannot be confirmed for certain by the footage we currently have, but it can be concluded that she had taken the items you listed.”

“Bingo!” Tony yelled. 

Bruce looked up from his file. “What!? What did you find.”

Tony slapped his hands on the table. “I just found our next lead.”

\-----

Peter waited outside of MJ’s apartment. He had seen a text from Tony and laughed.

_ I’m fine. I just have some stuff I need to do. I can tell you all about it tomorrow.  _

Peter put his phone back in his pocket. He was practically bouncing from excitement. He wanted to take her out for their second official date. He was taking her bowling, something subtle but fun. Suddenly she walked out, her hair in a ponytail. She was wearing jeans, a black t-shirt, and a coat to protect her from the cold.. MJ was never the type to dress up, he knew that. 

“Hey, you look nice.” Peter said.

MJ looked at her outfit. “Thanks, I guess, wasn’t really going for that. You look good too.”

Peter was wearing jeans, a red shirt, and a gray jacket. “Thanks.” He grabbed her hand and led the way. 

When they went there Peter was able to get them a lane right away. The place was almost completely empty. They went and got their bowling shoes from the clerk.

“Peter, I am not very good at this. I went bowling once when I was little.” MJ said. 

Peter looked at her with wide eyes. “You’ve only been bowling once. Well, I am going to show you how it’s done.” He said finishing with his laces.

MJ finished her laces and the game started. MJ picked up the bowling ball and stepped on the wood. She looked at Peter and then back at the ally. She took a breath and walked up to the line. She set her ball on the floor and pushed it like a child would.  Peter was trying to hold back a laugh as he watched her. The ball rolled and knocked six of the ten pins. “That was bad. If you hit the rest you’ll get a spare.” 

MJ rolled her eyes and grabbed another bowling ball that came out of the ball carrier. “Alright.” She set the ball down like she did with the other and pushed it. It slowly rolled down the lane and she knocked the rest of the pins down. “Perfect spare!” She yelled quickly covering her mouth and blushing from her outburst.

Peter smiled. “See, you can’t be that bad if you were able to get a spare.” He stood up and grabbed his ball which was 16 pounds. Peter stepped up to the wood. Peter took his stances and ran to the line rolling the ball in a straight line that shot through the middle of the pins. 

Peter smiled and then saw that the two end pins failed to fall. He had a perfect split. One of the hardest bowling tricks was to knock this down. Peter put all his focus on this next shot. He grabbed another ball and did his same routine and aimed for the edge of the right pin. It rolled and nicked the end it shot to the other end only grazing the opposite pin and failing to knock it over. “Dang it.” 

MJ smirked. “I think I’m beating the self-proclaimed bowling pro.”

Peter’s lips were straight. “That was only one roll. We still have line 9 more to go. I’ll beat you.”

MJ raised a brow. “Is that a challenge Mr. Parker.”

**1 hour later**

“2 games and I beat you in both.” MJ said as they left the ally.

Peter crossed his arms. “Only because I let you. I didn’t want my girlfriend feeling bad on our date.” He smirked.

“Well… I appreciate your concern. Now I have a treat for you.” She took his arm in hers. 

Peter was a little surprised, but followed her nevertheless. 

After two or three blocks they arrived. “I have wanted to go here ever since it opened. It’s my treat.” MJ’s face was almost glowing with excitement. 

Peter smiled, looking at her being so happy made his day. Nothing could ruin it. His life was perfect. He was doing good in school, the decathlon team was heading to nationals, he just finished his vacation with Tony Stark, and is now on a second date with the girl of his dreams. He looked up at the ice cream store. “Ice cream in the middle of winter.” 

MJ blushed. “I know it’s a little odd, but I have really wanted to try the orange mango with shaved chocolate!” She pulled him inside the store and looked at Peter. “See, don’t these look great.”

Peter laughed and looked at the ice cream. Eating this and walking outside might get him a cold. His body doesn;t thermoregulate like others, but he didn’t want to disappoint her. “I’ll get the chocolate mint, just a small thought.”

MJ got each of their orders. She took the plastic spoon that came with it and ate a piece. “Amazing.” She said. Peter ate his slowly trying to let his body burn through it. 

After 20 minutes they finished their little ice cream cups. Peter was still cold, but he wasn’t going to let something like that get in his way. When they walked out of the store it was once again snowing. “Here, I’ll walk you home.” Peter offered. It would be rude to not walk her back.

It only took them about 10 minutes from the parlor. MJ looked at Peter. “I had a really great time. I think I choose my guy correctly.” She laughed and ruffled some snow from his hair before going into her own apartment. 

Peter stared at the door with a wide grin. He was pulled out when an old man pushed him out of the way. “Move it or lose it buddy.” He said continuing on his path. 

Peter watched him leave and ran home to get warm again before patrolling.

\-------

**Stark Tower 5:45pm**

“This could be the fourth person we are looking for. FRIDAY, how tall is Hannah?” Tony had already notified the team and they were already trying to locate her current position. 

“Sir, Hannah Peters is 5’10 and weighs 140 lbs.”

Tony smiled. “This could be her. She is tall, which can be described as large. The mercenaries they hired said there were three large people and one small one.”

Steve looked at Tony. “I’m not sure Stark. I think they meant another man. This woman wasn’t concerned about hiding her identity at all.”

Clint nodded. “I agree with Rogers. It’s a little odd. Plus, she worked here two years ago. Why would she come back?”

Tony looked at the two. “Okay, that may be true. But she fits the description and has a motive. She was fired from here and where she was working, she was well off in pay. Some people know how to hold a grudge. Nat, do you have a location?”

Nat looked on her computer screen and was scratching her head. “I do, but this just looks wrong. Her phone is located in a different state.”

Tony and Bruce looked at eachother. “Did she flee in fear?” Bruce asked. 

“No, she probably sent her phone out to make her hard to track. She might be using this as a distraction from what she is really planning.” Tony looked at everyone. “Now do you guys believe me?”

Everyone had their doubts, but it’s the only lead they have. “Awesome, I’ll have Sam and Rhodes look at the existing phone signal to see if they find anything. We’ll stay here and try to find her or any of the people behind this case.”

“What about Peter?” Clint said. 

The room was full of silence. “I thi-” Nat started.

Tony cut her off. “He has his own things to deal with right now…” Tony thought about the kid. He didn’t even tell him about the date, he was more than a little upset. Tony cleared his mind and tried to not think about stuff like that. He was about to sit down when his phone rang, the ID was an unknown caller. “Nat, get a tracker ready.”

She nodded, everyone else tensed up. Tony answered the phone and put it on speaker. “Who is this?” 

The voice that erupted over the line was light. It was definitely a woman. “ _ Please, don’t play dumb with me Stark. We all know that you guys think you have us all figured out. _ ”

“What the hell do you want? Why are you doing this?” Tony almosted shouted over the line.

“ _ Don’t be so upset. I don’t want anything but revenge. You have ruined countless lives and no matter how much you or your little Avenger’s think you’ve changed. My friends and I are going to destroy it. Have fun while it lasts, because it will end very quickly.”  _ The line went dead.

Everyone looked at Natasha. she looked back at her teammates. “I didn’t get an exact location, but if that was Hannah, she is within a five mile radius. 

“That’s good right?” Clint chimed.

Bruce groaned. “Not really. Five miles covers a lot of area in a place like New York. It will take us hours to find someone.” 

Steve looked at Tony. They had immediate unspoken communication. Tony shook his head in disapproval. “No” He said out loud. 

“Just have him look. Just because you told him no patrolling in our last meeting, it was bluntly obvious to everyone in that room that he was still going to.”

Tony huffed. “Peter is too young. The kid is going to get himself killed if he is involved.”

Steve sighed. “But if you let him know, he won’t be so defiant. You need to trust him, then he will start trusting you.”

Tony wanted to retort, but he was right. Peter can tell Tony doesn’t have complete faith in him. He’s still unsure about this, but it’s a step he needs to take. “Okay, I’ll- I’ll let him know. Thanks Cap…” He turned his back to the group and went down a floor into an empty conference room. The building was so quiet with the lack of workers. Usually floors 4 and under are bustling with workers and now it was bare. 

Hey dialed Peter’s number and let it ring for a bit until he was met with a voice mail. “Peter, it’s Tony.” His voice was as cheerful as it could be. “I need to talk to you. Call me back ASAP. It’s important.” He hung up.

“Sir, Mrs. Potts is requesting your presents.” FRIDAY chimed it.

“Of course she is. Tell her I’ll be there in a minute.” Tony sighed and went to the elevator. He watched as the floor number rose and then heard that definite ding. He walked and looked at her. 

“Sit.” She said firmly.

“Pepper I am no-” He started.

Pepper glared at him with her death stare.

Tony sat down taking heed in the warning. 

“Do you know why I called you up?” She asked while putting some files in the drawer.

Tony leaned back in the chair. “Probably to lecture me about something.”

She sighed. “You need to straighten up your act if you plan on finding these people. I came to tell you good luck and be careful.”

He looked up at her. For once she let her guard down and was vulnerable. Pepper sat there fiddling with her thumbs completely showing another, more emotional, side of her. One that many people didn’t see. 

Tony stood from his chair and walked over hugging her from behind. “Don’t worry Pep. I’ll never leave you.” He placed a gentle hand under her chin and directed his gaze towards him. “You know I care too much. I love you.” He kissed her forehead. “Now I have to go and get ready to make the world a better place.”

Pepper watched him enter the elevator and only smiled.

When Tony walked out into the lounge his phone started buzzing. He looked at the caller ID. It read  _ The Kid.  _ He chuckled answering it.

\-------

Peter walked home and watched as the sun was going down. The town was starting to clear of people. “The crime will start to pick up tonight…” He mumbled. He kicked a can while walking on the sidewalk. The snow only laid a light coat on the ground. His ears were freezing, at least he had an amazing day. “I’m not going to let Tony’s stupid protocol’s about no patrolling ruin it. He feel’s that because this whole situation is escalating I can’t defend myself. The reason he gave me the suit was to help people! I can’t do that if he keeps me cooped up.”

When he entered the complex he looked at his phone. There was a missed call from Tony. “Oh.” He made his way into his apartment before calling Tony back. “Hey, you called me?”

_ “I left a voicemail actually, but that’s not important. Anyway, we have found new information on the case. A new suspect is Hannah Peters. She is a new target and seems to be in the city. If you see her do not engage. They are armed with banned weapons Peter. You need to notify us and we will finish them off together. If we get anything before your patrol tonight we will make sure to let you know.” _

Peter listened to the phone and was a little skeptical. “Why are you telling me this?”

There was a quiet scoff on the other line.  _ “Because I think you should know?” _

Peter laughed. “Tony, I know you want to protect me… Mr. Rogers or Mr. Barton told you to tell me didn’t they.” He grinned.

There was a short pause. “ _ Rogers told me. But that’s not the point. I realized that I need to have a little more faith in you. I also know that you will be safer having this information in your back pocket.” _

Peter smiled. “Thanks Tony. I…” He looked outside. “I appreciate it. I won’t let you down.”

“Glad to hear it. Make sure to tell me all about that date tomorrow.”

Peter’s eyes widened. “How did you-” Tony hung up before he could get any information. “How did he know?” Peter threw his phone and stretched his limbs . “This really is an amazing day.”

**12:34am**

Peter got a late start on his patrolling, he was texting MJ and completely lost track of time. There were no new messages from Tony’s end so they must have not found the people they were looking for. 

Though those people were out there, his priority was one helping the little guy. The night was pretty inactive. He picked up on an ATM robbery. “Idiots.” Peter mumbled. 

He swung over and looked at the guys at the ATM. “Did you lose your pin number?”

“What!” They two robbers turned to face him. One of them pulled out a pocket knife.

Spider-Man raised his hands in the air. “Oh no, tiny knives are my weakness.” The man came at him. “Just kidding.” Peter webbed the weapon and slid in across the concrete. 

The man charged him. Peter ducked and took out his legs while the other man had a pipe. “Man you robbers have the oddest weapons.” Peter grabbed the pipe then swung towards him. 

Peter punched the man in the face and webbed him down. He looked behind him to grab the knife that the other picked back up. The blade seeped into his skin, Peter kicked the guy and webbed him down. 

With that taken care of he used his right hand, the good one to swing onto a building. The adrenaline really warmed Peter up, the cold was slowing him down, but now it felt good. 

He looked at his left hand. It was bleeding. He used his web to close it up. “That should hold it for a while.” He stood. “Mr. Stark said this thing had an A.I., I wish I knew how to activate it. Maybe I can ask if he can unlock some features tomorrow. If he really trusts me then it shouldn’t be a problem.”Peter ran and jumped off the building and started to swing through the streets of New York. 

After an hour of nothing happening he was ready to head home and call it a night. That was until his watch went off, he quickly looked around and found a man being beaten in an alleyway. 

Spider-Man swung down and kicked the man out of the way and webbed him to the dumpster. Peter turned to the victim and the eyes of his suit went wide. “Adrik, I mean… sir. Are you-” 

The Peter tingle, spidey sense picked up. The man hurting Adrik was down so it wasn’t him. 

“Pet- Spider-Man. Thank you.”

Peter put his hand up. “Adrik stay here and call the police…” More than the hairs of Peter’s neck were up. His stomach was churning, something was wrong, something was off. 

Peter saw Adrik get out his phone, then he walked to the mouth of the alleyway. He blocked out the normal noise of the day and let his senses do the work. A few seconds of complete nothingness. 

Suddenly a small object moving at high speeds was racing towards him. Peter brought up his arm and caught it. “What is it?” His arm was alreadying numbing. It was a tiny ball with two injectors. Peter’s eyes widened when he realized it was a tranquilizer. 

Then Peter noticed someone was behind him. As he was about to turn around something hit him across the head. Peter fell to the ground, his vision a little blurry. As he tried to get up he noticed that there were more people approaching. He was about to stand up when a boot slammed down on his upper back slamming him into the ground. 

“Stay down Spider-boy.” That voice, it was feminine. Peter craned his neck and found none other than Hannah Peters.

Peter paled for a moment. “No way in hell!” Peter pushed her off and got to his knees. Suddenly a high pitch noise filled his ears, his body wouldn’t move and everything felt like needles. He fell to his stomach. He could process everything happening, but his body wouldn’t respond. What was happening to body!?

Peter moved his eyes, looking around. Familiar faces came into view. It was the people from the case files. Vex, Yakov, Cael, Hannah… Adrik! Was he okay did he-

“A Sonic Taser! One of Obadiah’s most loved inventions. Truly a masterpiece.” Adrik’s voice was clear as day. He walked over and crouched in front of Peter’s face grabbing his chin. “I’m sorry about this Peter. I know you trusted me and all that, but I needed you. You are going to be the key that really breaks Stark’s heart. Pepper was a bit too difficult to get our hands on, but you. Well, you are just an incredibly smart ambitious teenager.” Adrik grinned and ripped off his mask.

Peter couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Adrik was working with them. He has access to all of Stark Industries equipment. He was the insider, everyone else was decoy to cover up the real enemy. Peter’s head was pounding, he was trying with every ounce of strength he had to punch him in the face. Nothing moved.

Adrik grinned. “Vex, tie him up and use the new tranquilizer. We can’t have him awake while traveling.” He looked at Peter. "I have to thank you for the tip on your metabolism. Came in handy.” He stood up and stepped on Peter’s wrist possibly breaking a bone and shattering his watch. He couldn't feel a thing, everything was going numb. From the corner he moved his eyes to see Hannah pulling out his phone.

“Cael. Take his phone and make an excuse to his folks. Make sure they don’t suspect anything for the next day or so.” She threw it to him. 

Before he could observe anything else his vision blurred. Peter guessed that they injected him with the tranquilizer. He tried to fight it off, he strained to keep his eyes open. The last thing he remembered was his body being hoisted in a vehicle that everyone also entered. “T’ny” Was all he could muster before his body shut down and met with darkness.

**Stark Industries, Tuesday**

Pepper woke up and found Tony was still sleeping. She slowly got out of bed and walked out to the main room in her robe and slippers. The only other woman awake was no other than Natasha. “You’re up early.” She stated.

Nat looked at her. “Yeah, couldn’t sleep. I have had an odd feeling that’s been bothering me. I thought you were Steve, he’s usually up pretty early.”

Pepper giggled. “Well, I would find it a little odd for anyone to voluntarily get out of bed at…” She looked at the clock. “5:20 in the morning.”

Nat only looked at Pepper. They both started to laugh. 

“Yeah” Nat added. “After last night I don’t blame him. Cilnt, Steve, Bruce, and I all ran around for hours doing a ground search while Tony and the others did an air search. And we didn’t even find anything. Either they escaped or my tracker was wrong because we all had scanners and nothing ever picked up our target.” She rubbed her temples.

Pepper looked at Natasha. “I have faith that you guys will find whoever did this.” She smiled.

She leaned back and ruffled her short red hair. “Easier said than done.”

\--------

Tony woke up a couple hours after Pepper. Rubbing the redness out of his eyes and looked at his phone. There was a text from Peter, “Maybe-” He yawned “He found a clue or somethin’.” 

Tony opened his phone and pulled up the text.  _ “Hey Mr.Stark, I won’t be at the Tower for the next couple days. May and I have some stuff plans and I didn’t want to let her down.” _

Tony looked bewildered. “Mr. Stark? I thought he gave that up. Weird, he also mentioned something about May working day shifts now… maybe it was a sudden change. Whatever.” Tony sent a quick text back telling him to be safe and let him know if he needed anything.

Tony walked out to the lounge. 

“Catch.” 

Tony looked up and barely caught the frisbee that was thrown at him. Clint glared daggers at him. “I thought you told me to catch it?” Tony said, throwing it back.

Clint grabbed it with one hand. “Yeah, but it would’ve been funnier if it nailed you in the forehead. He chuckled.

“Watch your back Barton! Also, Peter is going to be out for the next couple of days. He’ll stay out of trouble so I’m fine with it.”

Steve was out there with the rest and squinted at Tony. “You wouldn’t have anything to do with this right?” 

He rolled his eyes. “Of course not. I’m going to trust Peter. He’s capable of handling himself.”

Nat stood up and caught the frisbee, she threw it at Steve. “So, what’s our plan Tony?” 

He poured himself some coffee. “We need to find another way to track him. We’re done with a couple of people so we need to be productive… I’m looking at you Clint.”

Clint dropped the frisbee hearing his name. “What?”

“Exactly”

**Parker Apartment, Tuesday 8:30am**

May got up and was surprised to see that Peter wasn’t in his bed. She took out her messy bun and looked in the kitchen to see if he left a note. “Weird, he’s usually still in bed.” The snow outside was aggressive.

May checked her phone and found that he texted her. “Aunt May, I’m staying at the Tower to work on some projects with Mr. Stark. Love you.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Aunt May. So formal.” She sighed as she went to her room to change into her work uniform.

“I wish he would tell me these things in person. He’s always leaving nowadays…” She glanced at a picture that was framed by Peter with his parents. Next to it was a picture of Peter with Tony Stark and the Internship plaque. “They grow so fast don’t they.” 

May felt a tear prick her eyes. “Oh my goodness.” She whipped her eyes and grabbed her purse. Then she left the apartment locking the door behind her.

\-------

**Tuesday, 3:00am**

“So when do we plan on pulling this off?” Hannah asked. She looked at the table.

Adrik looked at her and then everyone else in the room. “Tomorrow is when this is all going to go down. I am going to go in and she down the A.I. When I was doing research on the hack I was able to find the coding. After some practice I can shut that tech off in a couple of minutes.”

Cael straightened his glasses. “The cleaner lady has planted all the bombs on the lower floors.”

Yakov smiled. I have also finished up on the equipment you asked for Adrik.”

“Good, you have all done well. If we keep executing this as we planned. We can get rid of Stark and everyone he cares about... “ He looks at Peter who is still passed out in a chair. Everyone else turned their heads as well. Ankles cuffed to the chair legs and his wrists cuffed together behind the back. His chin was still pressed to his chest. Adrik spoke with venom lacing his voice. “Without any remorse, treat Stark like he treated us.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is. Adrik is bad, oh my goodness. I'm not sure how well I covered it up until now. I was trying to pull focus from him until this point, but here it is. We are getting close to the climax of everything. Don't miss the next couple chapters because we will figure out the fate of our characters in peril.


	11. Chapter Eleven: Adrik

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this is way overdue and I am so sorry for making anyone wait. I have been so stressed with school, but I finally graduated high school. Even though it was really different than I imagined. Any 2020 seniors, congratulations! We did it.  
> Now this chapter gets dark, but nothing really graphic. I hope you enjoy it, sorry for the delay.

**2008**

Adrik got off his plane that landed. “Finally in America.” He sighed in happiness. He was offered work in New York and was able to escape the harsh ways of his country. He walked through the New York airport and couldn’t help but look around. Everything in this building was so nice. So, advanced.

After much walking around and a lot of confusion, Adrik made his way out of the airport.All he had was a measly suitcase and enough money to get a small dingy apartment. That’s what he did exactly. After settling in that night, trying to ignore the loud neighbors and constant sound of cars from outside, he laid down and smiled. He had to leave a lot to get here, but he was going to do his best to thrive off of it. 

Next day he put on his best clothes and any other essentials he needed. Then he made his way to the famous Stark Industries, the one building you could see from almost anywhere in the city. When he first received the letter of acceptance he also received a badge that had his face, it was his ID card that let him in the building.

Adrik arrived and stepped inside. The place looked like a fantasy, something from a film. The marble floors were waxed, windows let the light of day fill the building and the chandelier that decorated the lobby was exquisite. 

He went to the front desk and showed the woman his badge, he smiled and walked toward the elevator. “Now what floor was it?” He looked and smiled. “Floor four.” He pushed the button and it ascended.

The elevator stopped at floor three. Adrik cocked a brow and both of his eyebrows raised when the one and only Tony Stark entered and clicked the ninth floor button and put his verification card in.

Adrik gained any composure he had and held out his hand. “Mr. Stark. It’s nice to meet you. I’m a new extension to your nuclear department.

Tony looked at him in an uninterested way. “Hey.” He quickly shook his hand and stuffed both hands back in his pockets. The elevator stopped at the fourth floor and Adrik got out and went to his department. Adriks main job was to work on the powders used for the weapons. Most of these were used in more explosive projects. 

For months it ran smoothly. Stark went to Afghanistan and his capture was soon released to the public. Most of the workers still continued with their jobs as Obadiah took temporary lead of the company. Then his return was two months later and the creation of weapons in the company was cut. A lot of people lost their jobs and departments like Adrik’s were converted to other lines of work. 

Tony seemed to change and soon revealed that he was the Iron Man that had saved the tower from Obadiah’s outrage. The whole company could see Stark’s change. Adrik loved the idea of working under a hero such as Iron Man.

**2015**

After years of the company thriving Adrik took time off to go back and visit his family. The ones he has been away from for so long. He definitely has enough to bring them all over now. Life was finally starting to turn around for him. “One ticket to Sokovia.” 

After a long plane ride Adrik was back home in Sokovia. A harsh and unfree country, but there is nothing like home. His whole family was waiting for him like he expected. It was wonderful, Adrik couldn’t ask for a better gift than his family. 

He walked inside the house, it had a lived in look. Clutter and dust on the decorations, but the floor was clear of mud and/or dirt. Once he was in the door a pair of kids clung to his legs. 

“Daddy!” They both exclaimed in unison.

He crouched down to see them at eye level. The twins had large brown eyes and black hair. Their skin was tanned. “Hey kiddos. I hope you behaved for your mom.”

They looked at each other and then at their father. “Of course!” His daughter said.

“We're never bad.” His son retorted

“They could’ve been better.”

Adrik looked up hearing that voice. The love of his life, such a sweet sound. “Honey” Adrik whispered. He stood up and kissed her. Then hugged her tightly, having his family in his arms. The best gift is what he already had.

The next couple of days he stayed there with them and that’s when all hell broke loose. 

Adrik woke up to the sound of an explosion. He quickly got out of bed and looked outside, these things were invading the city. Everyone was evacuating their homes. In the distance he could see Iron Man and the other Avengers arriving. 

In seconds, he woke up his family and told them to get out. All four of them quickly got out of the house. The wind was coated in debris. “Rachel, everyone is evacuating to the carrier down there.” He pointed at the aircraft the Avengers had brought. 

Rocks and vehicles around them were being thrown. One skidded right in front of the four. “Go, go, go!” He yelled at them to get moving. They were running and something blew all of them back. Adrik rolled onto his hands and knees and looked up at his family. His wife Rachel was already up with both children in tow. “Go, get to the carrier!” He shouted. Desperately wanting them to get to safety. Rachel nodded and started to run with both her children in an unforgiving grip.

Adrik slowly got up from his spot about to join his family. He looked up to see Iron Man dodge a large boulder thrown towards him. He smirked for only a second, then that same boulder landed right in front of him. His wife and kids died as soon as it landed, crushing them. Adrik waved the dust from his face and ran to the rock trying to push it. An ear piercing scream escaped his lips as he tried to push it. No matter what amount of adrenaline, anger, and pain he put into it, nothing worked. 

He almost fell to his knees before someone wrapped their arms around him and picked him up. All his strength was wasted; he was only able to make out Captain America’s face. The next thing Adrik knew is that he was sitting in the evacuation carrier. It made its way into the sky escaping the destruction. 

After months of wallowing his sorrows in the bottom of whiskey bottles, he came to a realization. Adrik realized that his family’s death wasn’t no accident, it wasn’t his fault. Tony Stark, it was his. He avoided that rock to save himself. He would have destroyed it, nope he saved his own skin. 

From that day on Adrik swore revenge and went to extremes to execute it. Tony Stark killed the ones he loved, so Adrik decided to return the favor. That started with the one and only Peter Parker.

**2016, Stark Industries, Tuesday**

Clint walked into the lounge’s kitchen and grabbed an apple from the fridge. No one else was in the lounge, probably in the lab. He was whistling the song  _ Animal _ and slightly swaying to his own music. He grabbed the magazine from the countertop and looked to see that it is the same one from the night of the party.

“Ah, this is the one those punks sent us.” He opened it up and looked to the page that was written on. Curiosity is what made him look into it. “So why this page. Just because Pete and Tony are on it? Most bad guys have an ulterior motive right?”

He started to read the article. 

“ _ Tony Stark, billionaire, has recruited a mentee. Never thought we would see the day that the idol would go out of his way to take someone under his wing…”  _ Clint furrowed his brows and looked further in the article.

“ _ Reporter Jessica talked to Adrik, One of Tony’s closest interns. ‘What reason do you think that Tony took in such a young man under his wing?’ she asked. _

_ ‘I have met Peter myself and he his incredibly smart, but if you ask me Stark probably feels guilty.’ he replied. _

_ ‘Why would you say he feels guilty?’  _

_ ‘Well it should be obvious. Stark has caused a lot of pain to innocent people with his whole avengers gig. Don’t get me wrong, I love Tony, but does nobody remember the fall of Sokovia… he might be trying to balance his act by helping out the kid.’ _

_ ‘Interesting, thank you for your thoughts on this Adrik. Now we will-” _ Clint looked up from the magazine.

_ “ _ Whoa, you look like you just saw a ghost.” Natasha commented when she walked in. Her comment followed up with a laugh.

Clint looked at her and tried to muster up some words. “I think I might have another lead on the case.”

Nat looked at the magazine cover. “We already found that one Clint.” She said satisfactory like.

Clint rolled his eyes. “No, we only looked at the writing itself. We never looked into the article, they had a reason to put it on this page. They used it to project a sense of control.”

Natasha had an unimpressed and flat look. “Clint. I understand that you want to find clues to this, but what does an article help? Someone who has stayed hidden this far isn’t stupid enough to give himself away.”

Clint handed her the magazine. “Look for yourself if you don’t believe me.”

She grabbed the paper and read the article that he pointed out. “Wait… are you trying to say that Adrik is behind this. He has been a little suspicious, but wouldn’t this be jumping conclusions?”

“What else do we have to go on? Just think about it, this guy has known our every move and they have always seemed to dodge us, now when Hannah calls he has to take a personal break? The dots are starting to connect, don’t ya’ think?” 

Nat looked at Clint and then smiled. “Let’s tell Cap.”

\------

Tony and Bruce were in the lab working on some coding. Natasha burst in the room. “Have you told Adrik anything new?!” Her face plastered with worry.

Tony stood from his chair and stretched his arms. “No, he needed some time off, why?”

Natasha had a sarcastic laugh, but held her head in worry. 

Tony looked confused and crossed his arms. “Hold up, what the hell is going on?” 

Clint walked in with the magazine. “This is what is up. Look at this.” He opened the page.

Tony grabbed it and looked at the familiar picture. “We knew about this threat a long time ago. Stop beating around the bush.”

Natasha threw her hands down. “Adrik might be our culprit! No, not might-I have had an odd feeling about him ever since he started on this case.”

Tony raised his eyebrows before laughing out loud. “Are you serious? Why would you guys even think such a thing? That guy is completely innocent.”

Clint walked over to Tony and pointed at a section. “Read this, then you might understand our concern.”

Tony rolled his eyes and looked it over and his expression slightly faded after reading. “Okay, so he doesn’t agree with the Avengers, that doesn’t mean he’s trying to kill me.” 

Steve walked in the room. “Actually it might.”

“What the hell Rogers? You believe them?” Tony retorted.

“Tony, calm down and hear them out.” Bruce said joining the group.

Steve looked over his papers. “After Nat told me about the article we looked into the Sokovia files. Why would he mention that specific attack, see if he had any ties to it-”

“Or it was the most destructive attack we’ve faced so far…” Tony commented.

Steve glanced at him and continued. “Turns out that Adrik is from Sokovia and took vacation from the company to visit family. That means he was in Sokovia during the attack, his wife and kids were casualties and he watched his home country destroyed.”

Nat cut it. “Seeing that kind of stuff messes someone up, most likely thinks it’s the Avenger’s fault. He probably used his connections to you to sneak into this whole thing and that is our insider.”

Tony’s face paled. “Okay, but this is still just a hunch. Doesn’t mean he is our culprit.” 

Bruce looked at Tony. “True, but it wouldn’t hurt to look into it. He has almost all connections into our system… wait, that’s how he was able to figure out how we were hacked, because it was him. That firewall block that he decoded is extremely difficult.”

The whole room was silent as all the Avenger’s looked at their leader. Tony sighed. “FRIDAY, call Adrik please.”

There was a moment of silence. “I am sorry sir, his phone is currently off. I cannot connect.”

**Elsewhere**

The first thing he noticed was the dryness of his mouth. It seemed as if all the saliva was soaked up by cotton balls. The pressure in his skull was probably dehydration. 

Next was his hearing, as it slowly came back he could hear the white noise of the room, it was like distant ringing he couldn’t locate. Then the smell of sweat and rust filled his nostrils. It was probably his own. 

Then the cold metal that clasps his wrist made him shiver. His shoulders ached from being bent back in an uncomfortable position. His bare feet were touching the concrete floor immobilized in his spot. His stomach was empty and whatever was in his system made him sore and nauseous. 

Finally he was able to pull his eyelids open. The dim light made it easy to focus. Peter looked at his thighs and forced his chin from his chest. There were grey concrete floors and blank white walls, shadowed by the lack of light. His mind was in a haze, he couldn’t process anything. His mind couldn’t register his situation.

He tried to bring his arms around and realized it was a pair of cuffs keeping them in place. His brow furrowed, next he tried to stand or move his legs and was once again stopped. The chair wouldn't move, fear started to boil in his chest.

“What’s-” His voice scratched when he attempted to talk. 

Why was he here? What happened to him? Peter pulled at the restraints holding him in place. Frantically looking around trying to find a source of escape. 

“I wouldn’t try Pete. Your little mentor makes it easy to gather materials. The cuffs on your wrist are pure vibranium. I don’t even think he notices the missing material.” His laugh echoed in the confined space.

Peter stopped moving when he heard his voice. His head throbbed as it all came back. He was paralyzed, Adrik was supposed to get help… but he didn't. He was the enemy. “Adrik.” His voice was wrecked as his lips quivered. “How did you? Why?”

“Peter! You sound terrible, I’m sorry about that.” Adriks' voice was sarcastic and taunting .

Peter only glared at the man. 

Adrik walked in front of him and leaned so he was almost face to face with the boy. “What? Are you upset? I know it might be shocking and I really did like you Peter. You were smart, but I’m not willing to let anyone get in my way. Even if that happens to be a proclaimed teen genius.”

Peter gathered whatever saliva he had left in his mouth and spit in Adrik’s face.

He stood up straight and wiped the spit from his face. “You know Peter. That wasn’t the smartest thing to do.” He looked passed Peter and nodded his head. 

Peter raised his brow and tried to look behind him. Suddenly he felt a large impact on his stomach. He doubled over as much as his arms allowed. He spit out the small bit of vomit that came up. Probably only consisted of stomach bile. Peter gritted his teeth and looked up at Adrik. 

“Peter, all you have to do is corporate or this is going to get a little messy. That stunt you pulled just now wasn’t wise. Now if I read your file correctly, you having these powers have caused your body to not thermoregulate. Must be difficult in the winter.” He laughed. “Hannah, would you do the honors?”

“My fi-” Peter was cut off as ice water soaked his body. He couldn’t stop shivering. He quickly licked his lips to get moisture in his mouth. “W-whatever your trying to do isn-isn’t going to w-w-work.” His teeth were chattering. 

Hannah came around standing by Adrik. She had long blonde hair, lean, and seemed like your average pedestrian. “Kid-”

“Don’t c-call me that.” Peter spat cutting her off.

“Oh! That’s what we’re doing now.” Hannah dug her heel into the center of Peter’s foot.

He opened his mouth ready to yell. Peter stopped himself and clenched his fist trying to ignore the piercing pain that shot through his left foot.

She put her hand on the back of his chair. “Kid, I’m sorry you got pulled into this. But Stark needs to pay in some way. Torture has already been proven to be ineffective on him.” She took her heel off his foot. “You are the final key in our plan. So, don’t sweat the small stuff.”

“I’m covered in water, it-it’s a l-little hard to sweat.” Peter grinned, he watched as she retracted herself. Hannah brought her hand back and slapped across the cheek. His head whipped to the side. Peter brought it back to center as the sting from her hand started to subside. His fingers started to numb from the cold. “You’ll never w-win…” Peter muttered.

Adrik stayed in the room while Hannah left. Peter’s eyes followed her until she was out of the room. “W-where’s my suit?” Peter looked at the t-shirt and shorts he was dressed in.

Adrik smiled. “It’s safe, don’t worry about that. You really should be worrying about yourself. Most people are crying and begging for their lives at this point.” He walked behind Peter and put both hands on his shoulders. “But you aren't even the slightest bit concerned about yourself, are you?”

Peter shook him off. “No, all I want to know is why the hell you’re doing this?! What did Tony ever do to you?!” Peter’s voice was almost to the verge of shouting as he started to shiver once again.

Something snapped in the older man’s head. Adrik grabbed Peter’s neck and forced it to the back of the chair. His grip was so tight it almost cut off all his air and was probably bruising. “Tony Stark took everything I lived for away from me. Without blinking he destroyed and ruined my life.” He spoke through gritted teeth.

The teen was trying to suck in air and failed. That is when Adrik let go and Peter started to violently cough and once again puked up some stomach bile. Once he had air in his body he looked at his captor. “You’re insane.”

“No, I’m just doing the whole world a favor.” Adrik said looking over Peter. 

“Well, whatever your angle is. Tony isn’t going to come to get me, he won’t risk it all for an intern.” Peter said, smirking, gaining a new found confidence.

“Did you really think that is why you’re here? Hope the Mr. Stark comes to save you? Not quite, but you need to be a little more banged up for our presentation.” He started to leave the room.

“Get back here you coward!” Peter yelled. He was still cold from the water and now he was alone. There was no way to get help, did Tony or even May notice he was gone. Fear started to swell, what were they going to do. Peter may be strong, but he never had to face anything like this before. It terrified him.

After some time Peter almost fell asleep. His head was bobbing, not wanting to surrender to his body’s needs. All of that went away when the door behind him was once again opened. Peter’s head shot up as all of his senses screamed for him to get away. A man who was named Yakov if he remembered correctly. “Why are yo-” He stopped himself short when he noticed the bag in his hand. 

Yakov set it down and looked at Peter. "Remember the time you broke into our warehouse and tried to get into our business? Hmm. I do and I told you not to dig too deep or you’ll get hurt.” He bent over and started to pull out his ‘tools’.

“Yeah and then I webbed you in the face. You don’t have to remind me, I was there too.” Peter said trying to not tense or show his fear.

The man laughed and grabbed a portable jump starter. “I don’t really think you are in any position to be cracking jokes.” He turned around and loomed over Peter with an evil smile.

Peter’s whole defense broke as the man stalked towards him. “Please don’t, don’t! I’m sorry!” He started to pull on the restraints, still begging. “Stop, no please!”

\---------

Hannah sat at the table waiting for Adrik to return with blue prints. Vex and Cael were in the room with her and it was silent. She sighed and sat up ignoring the screams that could be heard in the room a few doors down. 

“So what do you have against Stark?” She asked

They both looked up, Cael straightened his glasses. “Stark doesn’t know a good intern when he sees one. I have applied for that internship multiple times and have always been turned down. Then that damn Peter Parker comes in and is Stark’s right hand man?” He leaned back. 

The larger man looked at Hannah. “I was a worker in the company. After something went wrong with some shipments Stark came in a fired everyone in the room. That job was all I had to keep me in my house. I was evicted and thrown out to the streets. That’s when I met Cael who introduced me to Adrik.”

Hannah raised a brow. “Seriously? Wow, our reasons are pretty lousy compared to his.” She said referring to their boss.

“What’s your story?” Cael asked.

Hannah ran her fingers through her hair. “Me? I was also a worker at Stark Industries. I was working with chemicals and had experiments I wanted to work on my own. So I stole some chemicals and of course was caught and fired. That’s not the only reason I want this though. The man is overpraised and doesn’t deserve a thing. His power is in the wrong hands and the type of satisfaction we’ll gain once he’s gone will be sweet.”

**Stark Industries**

“We need to tell Peter.” Tony said looking at the group. 

“Yeah, it’s probably best if he stays at the tower for the next few days.” Steve added. 

“FRIDAY, Call Peter Parker.” There was silence waiting for the call to come through. 

“Sir, the call has gone to voicemail. Would you like to leave one?” FRIDAY replied.

Nat looked at Tony. “Doesn’t he usually pick up when you call?”

“Yeah, but he might just be busy or away from his phone.” Tony was trying to not worry. “He’s with his aunt, so I’ll call her. FRIDAY, call May Parker.”

She answered on the second ring. “ _ Mr. Stark! It’s a surprise to get a call from you? How is that project going? Peter told me he’ll be down there for a while.” _

“May I was jus- wait, did you say that Peter said he was staying at the Tower?”

“ _Yeah, he texted me pretty late last night. Told me he’d be staying over there to work on a project. Is something wrong?”_

Everybody in the room tensed up, something was very wrong. “Nope not at all. I’m going to call you later alright. Bye May.” He hung up. “FRIDAY, track the Spider-Man suit.”

“Tracker’s connected to the suit have been jammed sir, the tracker of Peter Parker’s watch is also offline.”

Everyone was silent. Things weren't looking good. “Suit up. Don’t report back to me until you find something.” Tony stormed out of the room. 

“Tony.” Steve called out and ran out of the room after him. “Tony!” He saw the man almost shuttering with his back turned to him. “Hey, we’ll find him.”

Tony slammed his hands on the table, tears daring to fall. He turned to Steve, his emotions obvious. “And what if we don’t!”

Rogers was taken aback by the outburst and emotional state of his friend. 

“Tell me that. What if we don’t find him? It’s all my fault. I let him go out, I let him get hurt. I can’t stand to see a scratch on my kid.” Tears started to fall. He could’ve avoided it. “And I don’t know where he is?” 

Steve walked over and hugged Tony letting him cry. Everyone needs to let their emotions run, even men. “We won’t stop looking.” Suddenly his phone buzzed in his pocket. It got him thinking. He pulled away from Stark. “Did you track his phone?”

Tony wiped his tears and took a step back. “What? … Like a tracker?”

“Yeah, if you can track his phone we might be able to find him. That was the last thing he used to contact anyone.”

Tony sniffed and wiped his eyes one more time trying to clear his mind. “Yeah, um. He had a GPS on his phone. FRIDAY, track the signal on Peter’s phone.”

“The last known signal on Peter Parker’s phone has been sent to the Iron Man suit.” FRIDAY chimed. 

“Let’s go.”

\-----------

Tony was the first to arrive with everyone close behind. There was Peter’s phone on the ground. The dumpster nearby had a dent in it, obvious signs of a struggle. Tony held in his emotions looking at the other Avengers. “He’s been taken.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is. Were closing towards the end, looking at 3 or 4 more chapters at most.


	12. Chapter Twelve: Start It Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This so overdue and I am so sorry to everyone who is reading. Anyway, thank you to everyone who has stuck through this with me. Like I said, we are coming in on about four chapters after this. We are nearly climaxed in the story.

_ Darkness surrounded him. This was familiar, he has seen this darkness before. Peter sat up, unable to find any sense of space and spun in a circle trying to find something to follow a way to escape. Last time his escape was shut before he reached it.  _

_ He turned around and found a light, the same one as last time. Peter walked toward the source expecting a similar outcome. He attempted another step and was stopped short by a chain. “What?” This was different, he wasn’t even allowed over there anymore.  _

_Peter looked up to see a figure step in the frame of light. Their features obscured by the light shining through. “Tony?” He guessed squinting trying to identify them. They held out their hand, Peter tried to grab it but was stopped by a chain that confined his feet to where he stood._ _  
__“No, no, no, no!” Peter started to pull at them and constantly looked at his mentor who still had his hand out. “Wait, I’m almost there!” Peter pulled the chain and fell onto his back as it broke into little shards. He looked up again and Tony was walking away. “Tony! Mr. Stark, please don’t go!” He yelled getting onto his feet and running to the light._

_ Then it went black as he reached it, just like the last dream. The boy had tears pricking his eyes. “No… please no.” He whispered falling to his knees. “I don’t know what to do, I don’t want to be alone.” _

_ “Then accept your fate.” Adrik’s voice echoed in the space. Peter scrambled to his feet looking around his eyes red and puffy, but wide. “Don’t fight it.”  _

_Peter_ _ spun around and still was only met with darkness. “Come on out you coward!” He yelled with no response. All that was left was white noise and a never ending space of darkness. _

Peter shot up in the chair banding his head in the back of it. “Ow.” He mumbled as the pain in his body came back in full. His breathing was ragged, there were bruises and cuts that battered his body. On top of it all he felt like his insides were burning. Peter wanted to curl up as he started to remember everything that happened. All of this just to hurt Tony.

Peter started to think about their first meeting, Mr. Stark pulled him out of detention because of his little invention. If he never created that, they wouldn't of met. He smirked at the thought. Then all the events after, working on the watch, helping Mr. Stark in the lab. That was a day to remember. Peter stifled out a laugh thinking of the last couple months that completely changed his life. The smallest moments were the best. 

His reign of happiness quickly disappeared as the familiar door click came into ear shot. Peter’s heart began to beat faster and he took a deep ragged breath. He tried to mentally calm himself down. Up until now he has acted like a scared teenager, he may be one, but he is also Spiderman. Spiderman would be stronger and braver. 

Peter waited until the person came into view and only glared daggers at them.

Adrik came in and looked at Peter. “Ohh, you’ve got real fire in your eye. Haven’t seen this kind of defiance yet. I like it, must be why Tony helped you with the whole super hero thing. Anyway, I’m not here to talk about that. We will be leaving real soon. The final stage of our plans commence tonight. All you need to do is sit tight.” Adrik ruffled his hand in Peter’s hair.

The boy quickly pulled away. “Go to hell!”

Adrik looked shocked and bent down to Peter’s eye level. The younger boy began to visibly struggle against the bonds holding him in place. “You are just full of surprises.” He grabbed Peter’s jaw, fingernails digging into the skin. “Oh Peter, you might want to tone down the insults and think about your life. This is the last day you’ll be on this wretched earth, so I suggest you enjoy it.” He sneered, jerking his hand away and leaving without another word.

Peter opened his mouth trying to get the feeling of his hand off. Suddenly he felt a pang in his chest when he realized what Adrik meant. “I’m… I’m going to die?” Peter almost couldn’t believe it. There was so much he wanted to do. So, much Spiderman had to do. He couldn’t let that end, but would it?

\---------------

**Stark Industries**

The whole tower was evacuated of workers, the Avengers were the only one who occupied the building. Earth's mightiest heroes sat in the lounge silent, unable to say a word. Tony in particular looked the worst of them all. He sat there hair disheveled, and a lost glint in the eye.

Bruce sighed and looked at the group, everyone looking at the small amount of noise that erupted. “We can’t just sit here, it isn’t helping.” Bruce's voice cracked at first but soon cleared up.

Tony took a deep breath while running a hand through his hair. The one boy he began to care for, the young and innocent Peter Parker was gone. Who knows what could be happening to him. It should be Tony in that position, not the kid. He loved him and was willing to do what he needed to get his kid back safely. “We contact them. It’s the only way we're going to get him back. They’re trying to get to me, if I can keep Peter safe then they can.”

Steve was the first to comment. “Tony, you can’t just give them what they want, they’ll kill you-”

“And what if they kill Peter?! Then what? His blood is on my hands, if he dies, that’s on me.” Tony pointed to himself, his voice slightly getting louder. “My kid is somewhere, god knows where, and is probably terrified. He is 15-” His voice broke. “He’s only a kid.”

Nat tried to put a hand on his shoulder to comfort, but he only pushed it away. “I’m fine and I’m doing this. We’ll figure out a way to make this look less grim. If we can negotiate a trade, we can find a way to take them down too, but our main goal is to get Peter safe. Everyone nodded in agreement.

\-----

Natasha was on her computer and was scanning current tracking methods with the locations and connections they already had. “Tony, I have no way of tracking them. We don’t have an initial signal to work with, even if I did happen to find something it would be a long shot to work.”

Tony and Clint looked up from their weapons that they were tuning up. Clint trying to work on some tweeks with his bow. He was going to be the sniper, silent but deadly was his tactic.

Tony raised a brow. “That Hannah girl, you can’t work with that call she gave us.” 

“We were able to get a solid trace then and the signal that it emitted is non-existent so it was probably disposed of.” Nat leaning back in her chair with a light groan. “This is so frustrating!” 

Tony let out an annoyed gruff and looked at everyone. “Well, keep going, I’m not letting up that easy.”

That is when an all too familiar right buzzed through the room. FRIDAY’s voice came through the speaker. “Sir, you have a call from an unknown number.”

“Talk about perfect timing. Nat starts working on a signal. Pick it up FRIDAY.” There was a small click. “Hello?”

_ “So it looks like you finally figured me out! I’m proud of you Tony!”  _ Adriks' familiar voice filled their ears. It was obvious he was confident, there was an obvious smirk that showed through his tone.

“Adrik, what you are doing is out of hand. We just want the boy back.” Tony was trying to not scream at the man,

_ “Hold it! You better watch it, as you have correctly guessed I do have Mr. Parker with me and I am willing to do what I have to with him.” _

Tony took a breath scared of what Peter could have already gone through. “Adrik, it's me you want and me you can have. We all know that’s the only reason you took him.” There was a slight irritation in his voice.

A loud crack of laughter filled the room but quickly died out before he started speaking again. “ _ Oh how wrong you are. I didn’t take Peter as a bargaining chip.”  _ There was a quick cry from the other line. Tony's eyes widened immediately knowing it was Peter. 

Tony didn’t care about being polite anymore, all that was out the window. “You better not lay a finger on him! I swear Adrik. He better be in perfect shape when I see him or you will pay. I will see to that until I’m six feet under!”

“ _ Woah, that’s a big promise that you'll he to be willing to keep. Isn’t that right Peter?”  _ There was once again a forced cry from the other line. It sounded like he was trying to hold it back, he was staying strong. 

“Damn it Adrik! Let me talk to him!”

_ “Mr. Tony Stark, you are not in charge in this situation. I am. Now since you may never see each other face to face again I’ll let you say some parting words with him. I’m not a complete monster.” _

Tony looked at Nat trying to see where she was. She only shrugged still going at it with her computer, they were probably using a no trace phone. Suddenly there was some heavy breathing on the other line and an oh so familiar voice came through. 

_ “Tony? _ ”

“Peter! I’m right here kid, you don’t need to be scared. I ne-”

Peter cut him off. “ _ I’m sorry, this is my fault. I’m staying strong, but none of this would’ve happened if-” _

“Shut up. I have told you a thousand times that you’re a terrible liar. We are going to get you out of there and as soon as I do we can sit down and have a marathon of whatever you want.” Tony wiped away a tear that formed. 

Peter’s voice came in a little shuttered obvious that his eyes were on the verge of bursting.  _ “I’d like that, I think Star Wars would be our best route.” _ He slightly laughed.  _ “I love you Mr. Stark. _ ”

Tony laughed and wiped his eyes again. “Love you too kid, don’t you forget it.”

There was some shuffling on the other end. “ _ That was sweet, wish I had that kind of reunion with my family before you killed them… Life is so unfair huh. After I kill the kid, you, and all your Avenger friends the earth will finally see some peace. I suggest you accept it. _ ”

Before Tony could respond before the line went dead. “Peter?! No.” Tony slammed his hand on the table making everyone flinch.

Steve looked up. “We need to prepare somehow. By the sounds of it he is going to bring the fight to us. That means if we stay here in the Tower we will have a home field advantage.” Everyone looked at him, even Tony. “We’re getting Peter back, he is one of us. Which means he won’t go as a fight and neither will we.” His voice grew more confident and he smirked looking at Tony. Hope was starting to shine.

**Midtown High School**

MJ looked at her phone worriedly. There were several messages sent to Peter and he hadn’t responded or read even one. He hasn’t been at school and it was really starting to get under her skin.

MJ searched around and found Ned. She walked over and grabbed his arm turning him around. “Hey Ned, can I talk to you for a second? Alone.” Ned looked at Betty, the girl he was talking to and said he’ll be a second. Then was dragged off by Michelle.

“Can I ask what’s going on?” 

She stopped in the hallway where only a couple of students passed by. “Do you know where Peter is? He has always disappeared, but never quite like this.” She shifted uncomfortably and messed with the hem of her jacket.

“Peter!?” Ned immediately looked hesitant as if he knew something important. “You know him, maybe he is doing some extra work at the internship; with all the new watch stuff.”

MJ's face grew to worry. “Wait, so you haven’t heard from him? He hasn’t told you anything?”

Ned raised a brow. “No, but I’m sure he’s fine.”

MJ couldn’t accept ‘just fine’ when it came to Peter. She cared for him and wanted to know that he was safe. “Can you tell Mr. Harrigton that I won’t be at practice today?” Before hearing an answer she ran out of the school and went to the bus stop and looked through her and Peter’s text. What was she doing? This was so unlike her, to stretch her neck so far out for someone.

Last time Peter texted her was Friday after their date. 

_ Drink some hot chocolate if you get cold, don’t have too much fun without me <3\. - _ Peter

Holding her phone close to her chest she smiled and laughed, he was so sweet. Now to be serious again, it would be a little rude to just go to Peter’s house and ask May where he was. She didn;t know her work hours so she might not even be home. One place that was open was Stark industries.

Waiting for the bus, snow started to fall and dust the ground in white, people leaving tracks across pavement. 

The bus stopped and MJ was one of the first to hop on and sat in a window seat near the front. Public buses in New York were always sketchy, never knew what kind of person you would get stuck sitting with. 

About 5 minutes into the 45 minute drive, someone sat by her. The man was tall and well-built. It was hard to look at him without staring, but he wore dark sunglasses and a baseball cap, definitely not winter attire. 

She placed a hand on her pepper spray bottle and leaned into the window as much as she could. Throughout the whole ride she was mildly uncomfortable, he kept looking at her over and over again. 

The moment she nearly let loose is when he spoke. “I’m sorry to ask this, but do you go to Midtown high school?”

MJ turned and looked at him. “I don’t tell those types of things to strangers.” She said hoping her stop would come soon.

“Well, I’m not just any type of stranger, it’s just, another intern at my workplace showed me a picture of his decathlon team and you are a spitting image of the girl he said he liked.” The man spoke, loosening up a bit. He took off his sunglasses to become a little less intimidating. 

She immediately grew interest., her heart almost skipping a beat. Her guard went down as she started to ask the questions. “Do you by any chance work at Stark Industries?” He nodded and that made her smile. “Then I’m guessing that boy you know is Peter, right?”

“Yeah! He is a real nice kid, I worked right next to him. That watch he made was impressive. He was so invested in that project and looked where it landed him, in the penthouse.” He laughed and looked at her.

MJ smiled as well. “Do you by any chance know where he is? I know that he was doing some stuff with Mr. Stark this weekend, but school started back up after break and he didn’t come yesterday. I haven’t heard from him since after our date Friday.”

The man’s eyebrows raised. “Oh, I’m happy for him, he said he liked you. But Peter, no I have taken a short break from work so I’m not sure where he’s alright.”

Michelle wasn’t convinced, the worry only grew and then her stop being called pulled her from her thoughts. “Oh, this is me. It was nice to meet you…”

“Adrik.” He replied.

“It was nice to meet you Adrik.” She replied by getting off the bus and walking the rest of the way to the over sized Tower. The only other time she was there was during the field trip. 

She walked in and there was a sign posted on the second set of doors that said no one is allowed in due to unforeseen circumstances. “This might be the reason Peter wasn’t at school, whatever this is could be important.” 

She read on. The note then stated that if anyone would like to contact Tony Stark could do so though an intercom. Looking over MJ found it and pressed the button. “Hello, my name is Michelle Jones. I was just going to ask about Peter, Peter Parker. He has been absent and I was hoping I could talk to him if he was with you?”

There was a long pause, almost as if no one heard her. Suddenly there was a voice that filled the little area. “Mr. Stark will send someone down with information.”

MJ was surprised, maybe it was Peter. She patiently waited until the doors opened and the redheaded Black Widow came into the room. “You’re looking for Peter. Well, I can assure you, he is not here. This building is under a watch right now due to other complications. Before you go, what relation do you have to Peter?” She said she was interested in the girl's appearance. 

“I’m his girlfriend. I asked a worker of your named Adrik but he-”

“Did you say Adrik?” The Avenger cut her off.

MJ only nodded, shocked by the sudden halt in conversation.

“Come with me.” She led Michelle into the building and they both entered the elevator. “You can call me Nat if that’s easier than Black Widow.”

MJ was shocked by it all. Her mind was asking a million questions. What did she get herself dragged into? She was led into a room where the Avenger’s all were. Her mouth almost dropped, but she composed herself and obtained her usual expression.

Tony looked up and saw MJ and then looked at Natasha. “Nat, why did you bring her up here?”

Nat smiled and looked at Michelle. It only took a couple of words to get everyone’s attention. “She talked to Adrik.” Every head in the room popped up.

“What?” Hawkeye asked.

“How?” Captain America wondered.

Nat looked at her. “Just tell us what happened and what he said.”

Michelle looked at the room with her face probably drained of color. “Well, I was on my way here actually.”

\--------

**Elsewhere**

“It knocked the kid right out. Surprises me even, and I have worked with a number of people and these types of drugs.” Yakov said, looking at the while and then Peter’s unconscious form. 

“Of course. He is too much of a threat to keep awake. He is Spider-Man and is damn good at it too.” Vex added from the doorway. He was quickly pushed out of the way by Hannah who walked in.

“Move” She said, pushing Yakov out of the way so she could get in front of Peter. Hannah grabbed his jaw and used his other hand to open his eye lids. Both eyes only showed the white. “Good, get him ready. We’ll be heading out soon.”

She walked out and found Adrik. “Did you get everything?”

“Yeah, I picked up the final items and I also ran into someone. Peter Parker’s precious girlfriend.” Adrik claimed, setting the bag on the table.

Hannah chuckled. “Damn, seriously. Where was she going?”

“Stark Tower.”

“Wait, really. If she’s there still in the next couple of hours, she is going to go down with the rest of the Tower.”

Adrik sat down in a chair and sighed. “It’s all for the good of our goal. Who knows, she might leave before all this happens.”

Cael looked up hearing the conversation. “Our goal is to destroy the Avengers, aren't we supposed to protect the innocent, not kill them because of getting caught up in the scuffle. Like your fami-”

Within seconds Adrik had the cold barrel of a gun pressed against the kid’s forehead. “Don’t finish that sentence or I’ll blow your brains out right here.”

Cael shut his mouth despite his quivering lips. Vex and Yakov walked in at the sight. “What the hell?” Vex said as he walked in. 

“Just a misunderstanding, that’s all.” Adrik put the weapon back in his waistband before looking at the group. “Is he ready to go?”

Yakov nodded and Adrik smirked. “Let’s get this show on the road.” With the rest of his group a little more than shaken up, they do exactly that.

\------

Cael had his computer up in the vehicle that only contained Hannah and Adrik. Those three planned on doing the tech work and entering while Vex and Yakov took Peter in from a back entrance.

“So when you used their system, you were able to download all of FRIDAY’s code on this hard drive, correct?” Cael asked.

“Yeah, those sucker’s let me do whatever I needed. Instead I made it look like I figured something out when I was really downloading the A.I. code. Nothing was blocked because it was Stark’s computer.”

Cael tried to smile as he injected the hard drive into his own computer and the A.I. coding appeared. “Alright so I can shut it down completely for us to get in. After that I’ll place everything above the first floor on lock down so they can’t leave. Then once we make our message and get out, the whole building will go on an ultimate lock down. Then the firework show begins.” 

Adrik looked back at him. “Nice work. Now take this ear piece to contact us when each step is ready. Yakov has one so they’ll also hear the steps. You are running the timestamps on this so don’t screw it up.”

Cael nodded and put the earpiece in. “Got it.”

Hannah and Adrik got out of the car and approached the building. Right when they arrived at the door Cael gave them the signal. They walked in as the A.I. and security was temporarily shut down.

Adrik pressed a finger to the ear piece. “Alright Yakov, bring him down to the basement level. There where this whole thing will take place.”

\---------

MJ finished explaining to them everything that happened. She looked at her phone and it got close to 5. “Okay, so can someone explain what is going on? Why is he so important?”

Steve sighed and stood up. “That man is after Mr. Stark here. He is a threat to our company and we are lucky that he didn’t do anything considering your connection to Peter.”

“Wait, what? What does Peter have to do with this?” Everyone was switching their gaze between her and Tony.”

Tony spoke up. “They kidnapped him. They are threatening his life.” 

MJ’s eyes immediately welled up as the realization sunk in. Nat rubbed her back trying to calm her down. “Honey, we’re going to get him out of here all right.”

Michelle nodded and the two went off to get her a glass of water.

Clint ran his hand through his hair and looked out the windows. “I just can’t believe they plan on hitting tonight. It’s just frustrating.”

Tony sat up and looked at him. “You got that right.” He stood up and looked at MJ. Then his thoughts drifted to the young boy who was put into the middle of it all. “Damn it, I miss him so much.” He remembered covering him up with blankets when he fell asleep, talking through his day as they worked on a project. “I just… FRIDAY, can you report any activity outside the building for the rest of the night. We need to be ready if they come.” 

Everyone looked up when the machine didn’t answer.

“FRIDAY?” Tony asked.

Suddenly her voice came back. “Lock down commencing.” All doors gain a metal covering and the windows were blacked out with a protective barrier.

“They’re here” Bruce said standing up. The Avengers quickly grabbed every weapon they could get their hands on. Natasha made sure to keep Michelle who was terrified by her side.

Suddenly a video was projected on the wall. Tony balled up his fist when he saw Adrik look up. “I’m getting sick of these videos and calls! That coward!”

Laughter erupted from Adrik in the video. “Oh Tony. This isn’t a video, this is a live video.”

He took a step back to reveal Peter. Tony wanted to be sick, the boy was battered. His skin was bruised and cut, what did they do to him? “Peter” He whispered, hearing the boys shallow breathing.

“Now Stark, we're going to talk until this little princess wakes up. Then we’ll explain our plan from there. How does that sound?” Adrik said with a sly grin mocking all who were in the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be action packed and emotional and I hope to have that one done by Sunday, but that probably won't happen XD. We'll see, thank you for reading!!! Stay safe, the world is crazy right now, love ya'll!


	13. Chapter Thirteen: The Final Battle (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am just going to stop giving you guys an estimate on when chapter will be done. Any way this is intense and enotional so make sure you're ready. Anyway, I'm going to let you get to it. Hope you like it!

Tony felt his world zero in on the screen. The young boy he met in the office that day only a few months ago is now caught up in a situation that has nothing to do with him. The late nights he spent with Peter. Talking with the kid, getting to know him and his quirky personality. Hearing the kid’s voice was a blessing on it’s own. 

Tony didn’t shed a tear, only anger boiled up. He shot a glare to Adrik who was standing there with the widest grin. “What the hell do you want Adrik! Why are you doing this?” Tony asked, the same question he has asked and has never got a straight answer.

A cold and amused laughter erupted from the screen. “Well, you took something I loved from me so I decided to return the favor. Except you will die with it.” Adrik looked to someone off-screen. The woman named Hannah and the man known as Vex came behind Adrik and started to do something with Peter. 

Tony was trying to find an angle to see what they were doing with him. “Alright Adrik, you want to talk. Then what is is?”

“Tony-” Clint started but he put his hand up to stop the fellow Avenger.

Tony looked back at the screen waiting for Adrik. If he doesn’t react, the sick guy would get more pissed off.

Adrik raised his brow, a little surprised by the sudden change of heart. “Woah, that was different. Looks like you got an ice back for that hot temper. Now… we can talk. You killed my family in Sokovia with your explosions, and carless ways of taking care of the enemy. I am grateful that there are people to take care of those things, but if you weren’t there, my family would still be alive.”

Tony smirked and looked at him. “I am sorry about your family, but I can’t do anything about it now.” Tony knows that the amount of death he has cost is probably in the triple digits, but talk was all he had for now. “It’s not really my fault though, just like that kid you have. It won’t be my fault if he dies, it’ll be yours. Then who’s the killer?”

Adrik narrowed his gaze. “You’re talking like his life doesn’t matter, when a second ago you were begging for me to spare him.” Adrik looked at the unconscious boy. “If you’re going to bluff Stark, you need to act the whole way through.” Hannah and vex left the room. 

Adrik walked behind Peter who was still out like a light. Tony looked at the new addition that wrapped around the boy’s chest. A thick vest with a blocky look. Tony wanted to hold the bluff, but was growing more unsure as he could see the new piece of the puzzle.

“Adrik, what is that?” Tony asked. The others in the room grew more tense seeing this. MJ looked at the screen with large puffy eyes. This seemed like something from a horror movie.

Adrik grabbed Peter’s hair and tilted his head up so his face was facing the camera. “Well, Peter here is going to be the main attraction to our show.”

Peter let out a quiet grunt and his lips tried to form words as his eyes cracked open as his face was scrunched in pain.

“Well lookie here. Spidey is going to get to hear all about our game plan.”

“Wha-” Peter was still registering his surroundings as a voice boomed into his ear. His vision started clear as the pain in his scalp became more evident. Then the familiar feeling of his limbs bound in place made everything he was unaware of was now obvious.

Peter pulled at the cuffs and tried to break from the hold. Suddenly his head was pushed to the back of the chair. Peter stopped moving as a throbbing grew in the back of his skull. When he settled the beaten parts of his body started to ache as the adrenaline quickly faded.

“Oh, tried to get out for a second.” Adrik laughed and looked back at the camera. “Now what I was saying. He is the main key to this all. “ He let go of Peter. “Throughout this building I and others have been slowly planting explosives around the building. While I was working on that fun project to find… me. I was busy sabotaging. Many people from the cleaning staff were helping by pussing packages in certain rooms. I had them all set before your ban of chemicals came into play. Then I got ahold of your little pet here and we are set up somewhere in this lovely tower. Once all those little explosives go off you’ll have a couple minutes before this will send the tower to the ground.”

“Is that… that’s a-” Natasha started.

“It's a damn bomb!” Tony cut her off forgetting all sense of rationality. “He’s a 15 year old kid Adrik! Who cares if he does or doesn’t have powers! You can’t do this to him!?” Tony yelled out.

Adrik looked taken aback. “Well, we have the bomb strapped to his chest and it is set to go off in about a half hour, so I'm pretty sure I can. We are going to leave now so we have time to get good seats for the show. I leave this on though so you can talk to him with the last bit of your miserable and meaningless lives.” Adrik did exactly as he said. Him and his crew grabbed some things and left.

That was it, Stark Industries was under a total lock down, no one comes in or out. There are bombs along the whole building. Natasha, Tony, Steve, Clint, Bruce, MJ, and Peter were the only ones left in the awaiting explosion. All hope for anyone being saved was almost lost.

A small voice made everyone look up. Even Peter from the facetime looked up to see where it came from. His eyes widened in fear when he saw that MJ was there.

“We need to clear the area around the building.” She stopped to sipe her nose. “Whether we do or don’t get out alive, there is no reason to risk the lives of innocent bystanders.”

Their room was quiet for a moment before everyone turned their attention to Peter who was coughing. “MJ, you really do am-” His voice cracked for a moment. “Amaze me.” Peter looked at Tony. 

Tony had tears pricking his eye. “We’re going to get you out Peter, just hold on a little longer.” He turned to look at his group. Steve and Bruce, you guys call the local Rodney and the Police, get them to clear the area I’d say a five mile radius at least. If this building comes crashing down it is going to leave a lot of rubble. Nat does your computer still work here?”

“Perfectly.”

Tony smirked. “Clint, you start searching this floor for bombs and Nat you start looking for a way to disable the lockdown, even if it's only for a little bit-” Before he continued his own phone ringing confused him. He pulled it from his pocket and the one and only Pepper Potts name was on the screen. He answered.

“Tony! What is going on? I can’t get in. I just got back from Happy’s final medical exams. He is fine by the way, the doctor’s were able to remove the shrapnel-” 

Tony cut her off. “That’s great hun, but you can’t be here. The building is going to explode-”

“What! Are you okay, what’s happening?!” A hint of worry built up in her voice.

“I’m fine, but I can’t have you getting hurt. Just listen to me for once and go. Help the police with the area evacuation.”

“Tony, I can’t- I can’t just leave you. Who did this?”

“Pep! I-I can’t talk about this right now. We are running on limited time, I love you so much. Now go!”

There was a second of silence before her soft voice came from the other line. “Okay. I love you too. Don’t die alight.” 

“I won’t.” Tony finished before hanging up. He looked back at Peter who appeared to be struggling against his bonds. 

“Peter… hey bud.” Tony started. He stopped his struggles and looked at his mentor with his grey looking eyes. “You need to stop struggling. If you mess up the bomb it could go off early.”

The boy's head whipped up. “This is a bomb?” Peter started to hyperventilate. He only saw this kind of thing in books and movies. Never did he think that this would happen. “T-t’ny.” He couldn’t form proper words. His body started to shake and his eyes watered, he had lost all composure. “I’m scared!”

Tony almost broke. He sounded like a child scared of the dark, but this was real. He was in real danger and he was the only one who could help him. Just one floor down he had an Iron Man suit, right now he was defenseless and unable to do anything. “Hey Kid! Peter, I need you to breathe alright.” He paused. “Take a breath and look at me okay. Look at me, only me. Not anyone else.”

The young hero looked up still panting slowly trying to calm his breathing. “Good,” Tony said, looking at Peter and smiled. “Now, I want you to think back a little. All the way back to when that spider first bit you.” Peter looked down for a moment. “Hey look at me… now, remember how observant you were. Your sense dialed to 11. I need you to focus and use some of that Spiderman power to tell me your surroundings. If you do I can figure out the room you’re in.”

Peter’s mouth curled into an odd smile. There was a newfound glint in his eyes, a spark of hope and power. A bit of the old confident Peter trying to show through. “Okay…” His voice was a little hoarse. Peter licked his lips and took a moment to breath and then looked around. “The walls are grey and the floor is white aluminum.” His head snapped to the side. “There is a quiet noise, like a fan or air vent.” 

Tony smiled and looked at the kid. “There you go. What's in the room Peter?”

Peter sat up. “Shelves, they have boxes and crates on them. Other than that the room is big and has two sets of doors.”

Tony looked up. “Of course! The basement! That is where an explosion can destroy the base and with the amount of chemicals down there it will intensify the whole thing.” 

Clint ran into the room. “Tony, you might want these.” He tossed him a pair of Peter’s web shooters. 

MJ looked at them. “Wait, Peter is Spiderman? That explains why you are always leaving class.” She looked at her boyfriend who smiled.

Steve interjected. “They have the police clearing everything out. Nat have you got any way to break through the lock down code?”

Everyone looked at her smirk. “I got us two minutes when I press this button. We need to have a plan first.”

“We won’t be able to stop all the bombs from going off.” Bruce said. “We need to use it to our advantage.”

Tony looked at Peter and then the group. “I know what we can do. Steve, you need to take Michelle, she is your main priority. I have a set of ear pieces we all can wear. Now here's the plan.”

**Midtown High School**

Ned finished Decathlon practice and walked out ready to leave. It was odd for MJ to just leave like that. He shrugged it off not trying to think about it. Ned was going to leave until he saw a group of people huddled around the cafeteria T.V. 

Everyone was leaving from extracurriculars and stopped to watch the news. “What the?” Ned mumbled joining the crowd. It was weird walking through the halls without his best friend by his side.

On the T.V. a reporter started to talk. “ _ Stark Industries area is currently being cleared out due to suspensions of a terrorist attack on the building. The Avengers are the only ones inside the building…”  _ Someone came over and whispered in his ear. “ _ I have just been told that Michelle Jones is also in the building. This area is extremely dangerous and we ask that citizens stay clear of this area. The situation is being dealt with in the best way possible.” _

Murmur started around the room. “MJ…” Ned whispered. He was broken from his thoughts when Betty ran over to him.

“Ned! Did you hear about MJ?!” She looked worried and a little scared.

“Yeah, but I’m sure she’ll be fine. MJ’s tough, definitely.” Ned tried to be convincing, but didn’t convince anyone.

Betty’s face completely changed from scared to dumbfounded. “Don’t think you're fooling me. You are just as scared as I am!” She accused him.

“What, no… Okay I’m terrified, but what can we do?”

Betty raised her brows at him and then looked at the T.V. “We go to the scene. We should be there for her when she gets out.”

Ned’s eyes widened. “Are you crazy!? We can’t go near there!”

Betty rolled her eyes. “We’ll stay behind the barriers, but we need to be there for MJ because her boyfriend Peter is off to who knows where!” Betty grabbed Ned’s wrist and pulled him along.

**Stark Industries**

“We split up. Every single one of us.”

“Are you crazy?” Clint said. “This is a 70 story building! We need to be able to reach each other if someone gets hurt!” 

Tony looked at everyone. “I know this is a risk but it is the only way for this to somehow work. We have fifteen minutes until the bombs go off in the building and twenty before Peter’s goes off.”

Natasha sighed. “So what do you mean by split up?”

“All you guys need to get to a different floor through the stairs. Try to be at least five floors apart. Then when you get to that floor find whatever bombs maybe there and place them on the west side of the building. Wait on the opposite end until they go off. Try to stay on lower floors, that is your way out. The bombs will provide an opening, but only for a couple of seconds. The top floor will crash down right then so you need to go right away or you won’t get out.”

“What about you Mr. Stark?” MJ asked. A question everyone but she knew the answer to. 

He looked at her. “Well, I’m going after my kid. I’d never leave him alone, I did that once and will always regret it.” He looked at the screen Peter was on. “I’ll do anything it takes to get him out of there.” Then he looked at the group. Every single one of them was smiling, they knew where Tony’s heart was set and nobody could stop him. “Then let’s get started. Nat…”

The redhead nodded and made sure everyone was in position. Then she clicked the button and their time limit was set.

\---------

Steve went to the highest floor of everyone. Despite having MJ, he was the post capable of getting them both out safely. He picked MJ up without any thoughts. He couldn’t have her dragging behind. 

The time was starting to run thin as he went up. He could hear a buzzing before he threw MJ on their desired floor and then lunged into the room before the door shut and locked behind him. 

Steve stood up and helped Michelle from the floor. “Okay, the bombs we’re look-”

“Captain America?” She interjected.

He looked at her. “Yes?”

“Do you think Peter and Mr. Stark will be alright? That we’ll be alright?” 

Steve gave a reassuring smile that contradicted the facts. “Yeah, if we stick to the plan everyone can make it out safely. Alright.” 

MJ wiped her eyes. “Yeah, okay.”

“Now, we need to find whatever bombs are on this floor. If I am correct, the model they used was small and had a blue glow. They’re the size of a ping pong ball with one flat end that makes them stick to the wall. Carefully remove it and place it on that back wall.” 

MJ nodded and ran out of the room to look for this sadi product.

\---------

Natasha was out the door just as fast as anyone else. She went a couple floors under Steve. When she got into the room it was ruined, like someone went through everything. 

She placed a finger to her ear piece. “Hey, be careful on your floors. They might be trapped. Make sure to move fast, but don’t let your guard down.”

Nat made her way around the room, she jumped when her foot crunched some broken glass. “Why is this place wrecked?” There were chairs knocked over and old cardboard boxes scattered around. It doesn’t make sense.”

Then she turned to see the thing she was looking for, the bomb. “Bingo” Nat rushed over and carefully grabbed it from the wall and placed it on the west wall. “One down… let’s see if we can find more.”

Her smirk quickly faded when there was a high pitch ringing that filled the room. Nat threw the earpiece and nothing stopped the immense noise filling her mind. “What… argh. What’s happening?!” She fell to the ground, hands covering her ears. 

She tried to look around, no one was with her, this was planned. Something set it off. 

Nat went to the area where she pulled the bomb. It got louder and harder to bear, that meant she was close. When she reached the wall from where she pulled the bomb there was a small hole. Natasha gathers up the strength to pry her hands from her ears. Then with one swift punch she broke the area silencing the noise.

“Damn.” Her voice was muffled in her head and the room was quieter than usual. That is when she noticed the blood smeared on her hands. The damn trap made her ears bleed. They were making this harder than it had to be.

\---------

Bruce was on the ground level. Going down a couple sets of stairs made it pretty easy to get there in time. When he entered on the floor Nat’s warning came in on his com. He didn’t respond, but for sure acknowledged it. 

Bruce looked in almost every room and found nothing that could be classified as a bomb. It started to look hopeless. They were running low on time and the Hulk was feeling very eager at the moment on coming out. 

With a couple of tries ended in distinct vein exploitation and a headache, but no Hulk. “C’mon, this is serious!” Bruce yelled trying to transform himself. With nothing to prevail he went back to his brains. Taking a look around, he walked over to the desk with a disabled computer.

That is when he found the bomb attached to the underside of the desk table. It came off with ease and provided no problems. “Perfect,'' he said, placing it on the opposite side of the room. He looked for any more in the room but failed to find anything. “I’ve found all I could on my floor.” He told the com.

Cap responded with a similar accomplishment.

When the room grew quieter he could hear a small noise coming from the bomb. Bruce looked over and created a distance between him and the explosive that would break him from the building.

\--------

Clint slid through the entrance of his floor before the door locked him in. “Just quick enough.” He said in a joyful tone. Nat gave them all a warning through the coms about traps. Clint was able to grab his bow on his way down to the floor. The room that was usually filled with light was dark.

He made careful steps through the area trying to not step on anything. Then entering a tiny room he found the familiar blue glow that everyone else has discovered. “Bingo.” Clint waltzed in and plucked the device from the wall.

Once it was removed from the wall, a noise erupted from behind him. Clint turned around and the door of the room was closing. With only inches of room left and squeezed through the small space the was left just barely made it out.

“Okay, Nat wasn’t kidding. Such a lousy booby trap though.” Then he thought about it. If he was trapped in there the bomb would’ve definitely killed him. “Nat, you were definitely right about those traps…” He waited for a response. Nothing. 

“Hey Nat? Natasha… what the hell!” He tossed the glowing blue bomb aside and went to the entrance trying to pry it open. It wouldn’t budge.

“Clint…” A voice came over the intercom headset. “I’m fine, I think.”

“Natasha, you’re okay.” He stopped prying at the door, relieved to hear her voice. “I-I was so worried.”

“Yeah… I’m, I’m fine.” There was a bit of hesitation in her voice. He decided to not ask.

“Well.” Clint continued. “Let’s get the hell out of here.” 

\--------

Tony was the first out the door when Nat hacked in. He went a floor down and summoned the Iron Man suit that quickly flew and attached to his body. “FRIDAY are you jammed in her too?”

“ _ No sir, all systems from the suit are live. The buildings hack cannot travel to me sir.” _

“Oh FRIDAY, you are an angel. Alright, I need you to find Peter.”

“ _ Calculating, Mr. Stark, I can determine that there is a heat signature in the first basement floor. There is trouble detecting which room due to the building’s malfunctioning.” _

“That’s all I needed.” Tony zipped down the Tower faster than he has ever gone. When he blasted through the door of the basement his eyes searched everywhere. He was squeezing his heart trying to prepare himself. 

He licked his lips. He wanted to see Peter, but hated to look at him in such a broken state. “Peter!” He yelled, it had a quiet echo to the size of the basement.

There was silence, Tony walked further in and receded his helmet. “Hey, Peter. Try to say something, let me know where you are!” He yelled a little louder this time. 

“Tony…” A quiet voice groaned. It was further down the hall. Just like Tony thought. He ran faster than he has ever ran for anything in his whole life. Then he stopped at the door. If he was right, Peter would be sitting behind this door. Tony took a breath and opened the door. 

“Tony!” The boy's head snapped up to see his mentor, his idol standing in the doorway. Peter’s voice was scratchy, but it was Peter. Peter Benjamin Parker, boy genius, Spider-Man.

“Kid…” Tony said smiling. He walked over and hugged Peter tighter than ever. “I missed you kid.”

Peter winced at the touch. “I love you Mr. Stark.” Peter said as his eyes welled up with tears. “Thank you so much!” His voice broke as he cried.

Tony pulled away and placed his forehead against Peter’s. “We’re going to get out of here okay.” He smiled.

Peter smiled back. “Okay.” He laughed as tears of joy still stained his cheeks. “Now do you think you can get these cuffs off? They really aren't doing anything for my skin.”

“FRIDAY, do you have anything that can cut these?” Tony’s helmet flipped up as he went behind Peter to break the bonds holding him. 

_ “Sir, the metal is a form of Vibranium. The metal is thin enough to burn through, but it will take 45 seconds each.” _

“Anything to break them.” Tony said getting started right away with his cuffs.

Peter sat there waiting. “Tony, is everyone else okay? Is MJ alright?”

“You know as much as me. What you heard in the video is what's happening. I can guarantee you that Steve will protect Michelle with his life.”

Peter smiled, and then heard a snap. He brought his hand’s forward. It was the first time he'd seen them in a while. Peter laughed as he moved his fingers around. “Amazing. Never thought I'd be so happy to see my own hands.”

Tony laughed as he went forward to break the cuffs that sealed Peter’s ankles. “I have a present for you.”

Peter cocked a brow and used the shirt to try and wipe tears and muck from his face. “Oh yeah? What is that?”

Tony finished the first cuff and pulled out Peter’s beloved web shooters. “Clint found one of your old ones before we left.”

Peter grabbed them and quickly strapped them to his forearms. It stung whatever cuts were under them, but he felt right. Like that belonged there. 

Tony cut the last cuff and stood up. “Now that that's done, we need to figure out how to get that bomb off you.

Peter lifted himself from the chair and fell forward immediately. Tony caught him before he hit the floor. “Thanks.” Peter muttered a little frustrated. He used Tony to balance himself, then let go to stand on his own. “I’m good, just a little beat up.” He pushed some hair from his forehead.

Tony watched the young boy he was so proud of. He would find his strength again, all they needed was time. That is when the explosion was heard. One after another from above them went off. Dozens of bangs came from above and the ceiling started to crumble. 

Peter immediately went into action. He started to web parts of the ceiling that were crumbling. Tony watched as the weight was breaking a couple of the webs. “Peter, we have to find somewhere safe.” He looked at Tony and nodded.

The two ran dodging rubble and falling chunks of concrete. The whole building was coming down. They stopped when a beeping was heard from Peter. They both look at Peter’s chest. 

“Tony, you got to go! This thing is going to go off any minute?” Peter tried to pull at it. 

Tony of course didn’t listen and ran over to Peter. “This might sting.” Tony pulled out a knife and carefully cut between two of the fuses cutting the fabric.

“Ow” Peter muttered at the knife, sometimes pricking his skin. “Tony… you’re so stupid sometimes.”

He laughed and finished the last slice. He pulled it from his chest and the beeping quickened immensely. Peter both knew what was about to happen. Tony threw the vest of bombs as far as possible and then tackled Peter to the ground as an explosion caused everything around them to fall. 

\---------

Stark Tower fell to the ground. Everyone in New York saw the smoke and ashes come from the building. Then there was a final explosion from below that blew more rubble and took down whatever was left. 

From a distance the crowd could see a couple of people escape the building for it was gone. The Avengers were safe.

Clint and Bruce were the first two out and Natasha, Steve, and MJ joined them. Clint enoveloped Nat in a hug and tried to see if she was okay. Her ears were bleeding, but her main concern was that Tony nor Peter had joined them yet.

Another explosion that almost knocked the group over erupted. MJ looked up at the building and tears immediately erupted from her eyes. “No! No!” She yelled. “Peter’s still in there!” She yelled trying to run towards it, but was stopped by Steve.

“We can’t go in there till it settles. If we do it can shift crushing whatever chance they have of surviving.” 

“No!” She fell to her knees. The group looked at the rubble devastated. 

“We’ll get them out. Tony won’t go down that easy.” A new voice came in. Rodney stood there. “We have a large portion of the military coming in to help anyone who was injured and try to find those two. Peter and Tony will be fine.”

Everyone wanted to believe that was true but it’s hard when the evidence doesn’t lean your way.

\--------

Peter groaned as debris dust filled his injured lungs. Breathing was already hard enough. He lifted his head and was only met by dust and a pounding headache. “Ah man.” 

He touched his head and felt a warm sticky substance, pulling away he noticed blood. “Of course, my head is bleeding. That’s exactly what I need.” Peter tried to pull himself off his stomach, but his limbs screamed to stop.

“Tony?” He yelled slumping back to the ground, there was no response. “Tony?” He yelled again with the same answer. At this point he didn’t care if he was in pain. Peter lifted his upper body from the ground, when he tried to make his feet follow only one did. Peter looked back to see his foot jammed under a large chunk of concrete.

“Damn.” Peter mumbled. Peter coughed and looked around, the dust was slowly receding but didn’t do a whole lot. “Tony! Where are you!” Peter yelled at the top of his lungs. 

There was a small cough heard. Peter smiled. “Tony! Are you alright?”

There was only a groan. He waited a moment before a voice finally came up. “I could be better.” 

Peter faced twisted into one of worry. “What?” The dust cleared enough for him to finally see the man sitting only feet away from him. His helmet was receded and his eyes were barely fluttering open. Peter looked at his chest and gasped when he saw a large chunk of concrete jammed into his arc reactor. 

“No… Tony no. This can- I can’t lose you!” Peter tried to pull his foot out and yelled in frustration when he couldn’t. “Why won’t it come out!” He yelled, straining his body. 

“Stop.” Tony muttered. “D’nt hurt yours’lf.” 

Peter looked at him. “What? You want me to stop. Look at yourself! You’ll die if you don’t get help soon!” Peter pleaded.

Tony wanted to grab Peter’s hand, it was so close. “Peter… I want you to be safe. Let them, argh.” He groaned in pain. “I want you… I want you to yell and let them know you’re here. I am not sure if I’m savable, my reactor is destroyed and once it loses power, the shrapnel in my body will enter my heart.”

“No!” Peter shouted. “Don’t say that! I am not losing you, I have lost too much in my life. I cannot lose more family. Not again!” Peter said, his voice shuttering. The pain was too much. Too much to bear. Peter’s body was losing energy fast and he was struggling to keep pulling his leg. 

Tony chuckled a little. “Peter. You have been entrodanary. I ‘ve some of the most fun with you. Working in the lab, going out to eat, making your suit.” he chuckled. 

Peter remembered moments from every example. When they almost blew up an area from the ammonium nitrate. Going out with him and his aunt. Hawaii was a blast and Tony made sure that the two of them always had something new to look forward to. Tony was a light in Peter’s tunnel, something he can always look forward to. Now that light was fading. 

“Peter… I love you so much. I want you to know that, and to grow up being the light that the world needs. Okay.”

Peter’s eyes welled with tears. He didn’t want to respond, did that mean he was accepting what was happening. “O-okay. I’ll try.”

Tony smiled and relaxed his body in the suit in the uncomfortable position. He closed his eyes, with a mouth in a smile. The light on his reactor flickered, showing no resistance. It stopped flickering and turned off.

Peter bawled at the sight. “No.” He repeated over and over again.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me and don't stop reading. The next chapter will be pretty intense so I hope you like it. Thank you for everyone who has been taking this long journey with me. We only got a couple left and if I work hard I way get it out within the next week, but don't take my word for it. Stay healthy and stay safe. I love ya'll so much!


	14. Chapter Fourteen: The Final Battle (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is more that overdue, and I'm not going to bore you with the details of my life. Anyway, here is the chapter many of you have been waiting for. Hope you like it! Also, sorry if the formatting is a little weird. I'm not sure how to fix it.

Fading in and out from the darkness. One second it was the destruction around him, the next a peaceful blackness trying to engulf him. The only thing that kept him from giving in was the boy in front of him. The one who was struggling and calling his name. The boy that means so much to him.   
Tony watched Peter struggling and could only tell him how much he meant to him. A sharp pain hit his chest and Tony felt like he couldn’t breathe. This could be the end, no. In the distance Tony could see lights and heard voices. Help was coming and Peter would be okay. He smiled, and relaxed, let the pain sink in and gave into the darkness.  
Tony was on a road what it seemed. All around him were memories from his life, some he remembered clear as day, and others he didn’t know existed. The first image that stood out to him was Pepper. That night he danced with her, the backless dress he paid for.   
He chuckled remembering how embarrassed she was. Tony wiped a tear from his face, the woman that he lived for. Who he couldn’t live without. His mind wondered for a moment before the Avengers and Happy slid into his point of view. All the stupid fights they had and the wonderful times together.  
Happy in the hospital stuck out to him. It wasn’t the first time he had been in that position. Tony knew he’d be fine, even with him gone. Pepper was checking on him before it all went down, everything would be fine.  
The last person to cross his vision was no other than Peter Parker. Seeing him dragged into that office because of a fight. That is when their adventure started, that watch brought them together. Tony couldn’t be more grateful for the wrist ware he had on everyday. When he reached out for the picture everything disappeared and he was pulled backwards.  
His eyes shot open and the world came back into view. Tony gasped sucking in as much air as possible. His chest felt clenched, but he could breathe again. His eye started to come into focus, the one person he loved with all his heart came into view.  
“Tony!? Tony! Thank goodness you’re alive.” Pepper grabbed the sides of Tony’s face.   
Tony smiled when she leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss. He looked at her and just started to appreciate everything. He didn’t deserve her, her intelligence, her beauty, her love, but he got every ounce of it. “I-” He went into a coughing fit. When finished, he said the words he meant most. “I love you Pep.”  
That is when the medic’s and emergency crew came over to remove the suit and get him to the ambulance. Tomy tried to focus on his breathing. In and out, keep a steady pace. It seemed like it was hours before they removed his body from the suit. Tony felt himself hoisted onto the stretcher.   
Tony turned his head and could see a group pulling his unconscious body from the rubble. “Wait! I-” His breath hitch in his throat and the medic’s had to stabilize him once again.  
“Mr. Stark, you need to rest. We’ll take care of the rest.” One of the doctor’s stated.   
Tony felt his eyes starting to droop shut. The last thing he’d seen is the medic looking him over. His eye lids fell shut and he let his body enter the darkness that awaited him.   
\-------  
Pepper desperately wanted to join Tony in the ambulance, but Peter didn’t have anyone else to look after him for the time being. She started letting her protective instincts kick in.   
“Move.” She walked over and pushed someone aside. “Peter, hey buddy. You’ll be alright.” His face was covered in dirt as was the rest of his body. Once he’s healed up he can take a shower on his own.   
Pepper put her hands on his neck. “He has a steady pulse, but you need to get this boy to a hospital right away!” She was a little annoyed that an ambulance wasn’t already speeding to a hospital with him in it.   
She looked at Peter and smiled. “You’re so brave. She kissed his forehead and stepped back to let the medics get him out.   
Nat rushed over. “Are they okay?”   
“Yeah, a little banged up. They’ll both be alright... physically. I’m worried…”  
“About the mental toll.” Natasha finished. “The psychological damage is probably going to need some type of counseling. I’m worried about Peter, he has never delt with anything near this calibur in his life, I’m not sure how well he’ll handle it.”  
Pepper’s eyebrows furrowed. “Yeah, I'll make sure there are some people in his hospital room at all times. Make sure he isn’t left unsupervised.”  
Natasha sighed and looked at the ambulance as it left with Peter.   
“Did they get the two out of here?” Steve climbed over some rubble to get to the two. The rest of the team followed closely behind.   
Pepper smiled. “Yes, they should be fine. Tony’s heart stopped but they were able to restart it.”  
Clint wiped his forehead. “We got Michelle to her friends. It’s best if she stays away from all this.”  
Some nodded as they stood there in silence. Everything that happened was more than crazy and it took a second to sink in.   
Natasha spoke up first. “We’re gonna catch those bastards. They can’t be allowed to get away with this.”  
“Nat… it can wait. We need to make sure Tony and Peter are taken care of first.” Steve interjected.   
Bruce cut in. “Okay, so this probably isn’t the best time to ask, but does Peter’s aunt know about all this?” Everyone looked at Pepper.  
“Well…” Pepper made eye contact with each and everyone of them. “She knows, but not to the extent a guardian should. I feel like things, things that happened to Peter, should be told in person.” She sighed. “Plus, she should be on her way to the hospital, which is where we should all be going.”  
“Yeah.” Bruce responded as they all made their way to the hospital.  
\-----------  
“Where is he!?” May rushed into the hospital, sweat dripping from her forehead and her clothes disheveled. She walked over to the counter. “Where is Peter Parker?!”  
The woman from the desk looked at her. “Ma’am I am sorry, but you cannot go in right now. They are still trying to put him into a stable state.”  
May looked at her with anger and confusion. “He shouldn’t be here in the first place!” She clenched chunks of her hair into her hands, tears pricking her eyes. “He’s so young.” She choked out.   
“Ma’am, if you could tell me your rel-”  
“I’m his aunt, I’m all he has!” She shouted. Everyone in the room quieted down and looked at her. “I-I’m sorry. It’s just, I can’t lose him.”  
The woman looked at May and smiled. “I understand. You can wait right outside of his room until operations are finished, The doctor will inform you as soon as you are able to see him.” She informed May of the room and direction to go. It wasn’t until she got to a special area of the hospital, one that was paid for by no other than Tony Stark. It was titled the “Special Persons Ward”.  
“What does that even mean?” May mumbled as she rushed over to Peter’s room and then calmly took a seat on the chair outside the door. “Please be okay.” She whispered to herself. It was about a half hour since and she kept fiddling with her hands.   
Suddenly a voice brought her out of her thoughts. “Can I sit here?”   
May looked up to see an older man, around her age. He was a bit bulkier, wearing a suit. Finally he had a bandage wrapped around his head. “Um, yeah.” There was some silence. “So, I should ask how you know my nephew.”   
Happy smiled and chuckled. “I’m Happy, the head of security at Stark Industries. He’s probably mentioned me once or twice.”   
May tried to smile a little. “Actually, no. I don’t think I have ever heard your name come up in a conversation. But I do recognize you from the news.”   
Happy sighed at Peter’s lack of mention then redirected his attention. “It’s probably because of this.” He pointed to the bandage wrapped around his head.   
May was about to respond when the door opened up and a doctor walked out. “You may see him, but I have warned you that he was severely injured so we have him hooked to a couple machines. Also keep any noise down so he can rest.”  
May and Happy nodded in agreement before walking in. The first sight of him made his aunt release an audible gasp. “Oh Peter.” She whispered quickly rushing to his side.  
Peter had bandages covering his complete torso and bruises that littered his arms and face. There were a couple stitches on his hairline. And a cast that covered one of his legs. “What did he do to deserve this?” May said watching the unconscious boy sleep.  
Happy sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the bed. “He didn’t” He grabbed Peter’s hand. “But he is a hero, that’s why.”  
May slightly smiled wiping her eyes and sitting in the other chair. “My brave little boy.”  
\-----------  
Two days later 9:25pm  
Everything was sore, especially his chest. His head was throbbing and he could feel his heart beat in his stomach. With a quiet groan Peter opened his eyes. The room was dark, only the light from the moon through the window was there.  
He sat up and found May asleep and on his other side was Happy, also asleep. He took a breath and looked at his leg. The one that was crushed, the one that prevented him from helping Tony, it’s healed.   
Peter’s breath hitched as his senses spiked and he became alert. “Tony.” He whispered with a shaky breath. His body was being fueled with adrenaline. Peter looked around and found his web shooters on the side table. He grabbed those and willed himself out of bed. His body ached with every movement, his lungs were on fire, even with the adrenaline pumping through his veins.  
Peter managed to stand up, he was trying to control his breathing. When he managed to let go of the bed and stand up on his own he looked to the window. “I need to find the ones who killed Tony.” He pursed his lips trying to not let emotion take over. “The real question is…” He looked at Happy.   
Peter was sly as he reached his hand into the breast pocket of Happy’s suit. Pulling out keys to a familiar Audi, Peter smiled. He put on his web shooters and quietly walked over to the window.   
It hurt, it hurt to walk, it hurt to think about everything. Peter blocked out any sense of reason when he opened the window and climbed out. Sticking to the wall he quickly made his way to the ground. He found the Audi within minutes and unlocked the door and sat in the driver's seat.   
Peter remembered that he sat in this very vehicle with Tony when they met. When he drove him back from the decathlon. So many memories in one car, it was impressive. Peter laughed, at least this isn’t the one that blew up. He whipped tears from his eyes and looked at the controls.  
“Alright…” He put the keys in the ignition. The engine started up and the A.I. installed came to laugh.   
“Welcome Peter Parker.” FRIDAY said.  
“FRIDAY, I need you to find me a route to the Warehouse the Avengers raided a while back.”   
“Coordinates ready, Would you like me to call any other Avenger? This area is noted as high risk.”  
Peter pressed the break and put the car into drive. “No. I need to do this alone.” Then he sped out of the parking lot. Despite his determination, it didn’t teach him anymore than what he already knew about driving.   
Going on roads of New York, multiple cars honked at him as he was swerving in and out of lanes. He also got very close to hitting a couple cars on his turns. Peter was freaking out as well as trying to follow the directions of the GPS. The normal 30 minutes drive took about 50 due to many driving mistakes, wrong turns, and multiple close accidents. Peter parked about a half mile away from the warehouse.   
Quickly turning off the car and getting out, he looked at the warehouse. Rage boiled in his veins as he made his way forward. “I’ll avenge you Tony. No matter what I have to do.”  
\------------  
Tony woke up around 10pm, there were multiple wires connected to his arc reactor, keeping it powered on. Pepper was laying next to him on bed, Her hand draped across his waist and a smile on her lips.   
He grabbed his phone that was sitting on the side table and looked at it. The top notification said. ALERT: Audi R8 Spyder is in motion. Identiscan identified Peter Parker as the driver.   
Tony’s eyes widened before looking at the arc reactor. He got up from his bed, the only pain he had was in his chest. He took a deep breath before calling his one and only suit into the room. Through an open window, parts of the suit flew in attaching themselves to his body.   
Pepper woke up and for a moment freaked out by Tony’s absence in the bed. She turned to find Iron Man standing in the room with her. “What the hell are you doing?!” She exclaimed while standing up.   
Tony looked at her so fast it would make heads spin. “I have to get Peter. He snuck out of his hospital room to catch the bastards that did all of this. Whether he does or doesn’t find them, I need to talk to him.”   
Pepper put her hands on her temples. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. So you’re saying that Peter snuck out and you think it’s a good idea to get him even if your arc reactor isn’t completely fixed yet?”  
Receding the helmet he grabbed Pepper’s hands and placed them in his own. “I love you, but Peter is almost like a son to me. I can’t let him get himself killed, or destroy the morality in his heart.” He let go and boosted his jets. “FRIDAY, take me to Peter’s coordinates.”   
“Right away sir.”   
\------------  
10:05pm  
“Adrik said he wanted to get a good view. This is the closest location they have to the city.” Peter said as he climbed up the window he entered so long ago and then pulled out the same ceiling vent.   
Peter looked into the warehouse and saw almost nothing. Everything was in boxes and nobody was in sight. With caution he lowered himself down into the building. With his hearing, no voices or breathing was heard. “Damn it!” Peter mumbled. Upset with the result he looked around. “They can’t- I can’t let them get away.”  
He went into the back rooms of the building. There wasn’t a thing. No boxes, tables, nothing. “They must’ve skipped out after everything. Smart.” Peter sighed realizing that he didn’t have a costume at all. “Well, there's not mu-” He stopped when his ears caught a small noise. A quiet ticking.  
Peter bolted towards the door as a bomb went off. The whole building went up in flames. Peter got slightly burned but nothing severe. He landed on the ground outside the building, he turned around watching it disintegrate in flames. He let his body rest flat on the ground.   
Footsteps in the distance made him alert once again. Peter scrambled to his feet, and looked around. He found the one and only Adrik. “I thought I killed you!” He called out, his lakies lagging behind. “Guess you wanted me to finish the job.”  
Peter’s fists tightened. “You killed him! You murdered Tony!”  
Adrik laughed and smiled. “Good, that was my goal. Kill Tony Stark, and it feels great!”   
Peter ran towards him with zealous. Adrik fired bullets at Peter, all that he dodged with ease. When Peter was close enough to Adrik he tackled him to the ground. Both struggled for the upper hand. Peter pinned one of Adriks arms until he was punched in the stomach. He doubled and lost all power for a moment. Adrik used this to get on Peter.  
The boy panicked for a quick second before webbing Adriks wrist together and pushing him off. “I’m going to kill you. You don’t deserve to li-” Peter felt an electric current shoot through his body. It soon stopped, groaning on the ground he looked up to see Hannah.   
“Peter! You’re back, such a nice surprise. I thought you died.” she snickered. “I’m sorry to interfere, but you were becoming dangerous.”  
Peter stood up and looked at her. “Dangerous is a good thing.” He webbed Hannah’s foot sending her to the ground.   
Shots started to fire, everyone in the group started to fire. Peter dodged and managed to knock out two people, Ceal, and Yakov. After Peter knocked out Yakov his breath hitched, his body was starting to fail him. “No, not yet.”   
Adrik stood up still trying to get the webbing from his hands. “I am just going to end this game of cat and mouse.” He grabbed Peter’s neck and pushed it to the ground.   
Peter’s eyes widened when no air was going in and out. With the strength he had left, he tried to hit Adrik or do anything to get him off. When his vision started to blur, Peter’s struggles came to a halt. He was about to give in to the darkness, but a flash threw Adrik from Peter.   
The boy coughed sitting up and looked over to find Tony Stark suited as Iron Man, with a blaster still cooling off.   
Peter was going to say his name, but instead he got his feet and ran. He ran as fast as he could, the man he watched die standing right in front of him. Peter hugged Tony, armor and all. Peter started to cry like a child holding their parents. He broke the embrace to look back at their enemies.   
“This is sweet and all, but I need you two dead.” Hannah smiled and pointed her gun to Peter. “Move and he dies.”  
Adrik stood up, hunched over as his side was burned and singed. “Nice one Hannah.”   
Suddenly red and blue lights lit up the area. A helicopter came onto the scene as several police cars also pulled up. “Hannah Peter’s, you are under arrest!” A police officer approached her.   
Adrik went into a frantic panic. He lunged at Tony right before officers pinned him down and cuffed him. “That kid will turn out just as bad as him.” He looked at Peter as he was taken to the police vehicle. “Stark will be the death of you.”  
The pair watched as the whole group of villains were taken away. Peter sighed and smiled turning his gaze to Tony. “We did it.” He turned to his mentor.  
Tony stepped from his suit and stumbled a couple steps. Peter became his crutch. “Thanks kid.” He stood as straight as he could on his own and looked straight at Peter. “And yeah, we did. Peter, you have never failed to impress me. Everyday I’m with you it is an adventure. Thank you for making that watch so I had the chance to meet one another.” He leaned over to hug Peter. “Alright, let’s get Pepper over here soon. I need to go back to the hospital.” They both laughed awaiting their ride.  
\----------  
Stark Industries   
The next few days were uneventful. Peter and Tony were both questioned about occurrences and other events. The duo was kept in the host[ital under close watch and were released once their injuries were healed.  
Michelle, Ned, and Betty had all volunteered to help with rubble clean up. The amount that needs to be cleared would take weeks. It was tedious work, but they all have figured out that Peter was in the building when everything happened.  
Peter made his way to the rubbled mess. As he climbed over chunks of rubled his eyes caught MJ’s. She looked at him for a moment and looked away, then her head snapped back. Tears filled her eyes and she ran over, putting her arms around Peter. “I’m so sorry.” She said. “I-”  
Peter chuckled and hugged her back. “Don’t be.” He broke the embrace and looked at her. “Look I’m fine alright. In the end we caught the bad guy and nobody lost their lives. All the Avenger’s got out safely. Mr. Stark and I are fine. Everything worked out.”  
MJ smiled and wiped her eyes. “Yeah it did… Now what the hell is this about you being SpiderMan? Is that the reason you leave school all the time?”  
“Uh…” Peter hesitated. “Well, since you know, yeah that's why. That’s also one of the perks of my Stark Internship. He made me my suit and everything.”  
MJ laughed. “I can’t believe you’re SpiderMan. It’s just… I always knew something was up. You’re a terrible liar, but I never thought it was that.”  
Peter shrugged his shoulders. “What can I say.”  
\-------------  
The clean up of Stark Industries only took about 3 weeks. The Avengers all came and helped when possible. In the end it was just an oversized empty lot in the area. Snow already started to pile up. That is when the location was moved upstate. Everything that was salvaged from the Avengers was shipped to a new building that was under renovation.   
Peter found himself backa school once again, only MJ, Ned, and Ned’s new girlfriend, Betty, knew about his secret identity. Otherwise he was the normal teen genius that was picked on by Flash Thompson.   
His Stark Internship made him a little more popular, but not much. His watch was worn by almost every kid in the school which gave him a small sense of pride. Decathlon practice started up on the 1rst of February.   
Peter was finally relaxed and living somewhat normal again. All the chaos has passed. When Peter and MJ went to practice that afternoon they all sat together. They were announcing the new team leader because they old one transferred schools.   
The teacher had paper’s in his hand and looked at the group. “Michelle, how would you like to be our new leader?”   
MJ looked at the group a little more than shocked. “Um, yeah of course.” She smiled. “My friends call me MJ.”   
Peter’s phone buzzed, it was a text from Happy. He looked at MJ. “I got to go.”  
“Go, you’re fine.”   
Peter smiled and made his way into the school bathroom. He walked in and Happy turned around. “Hey Happy. What uh- What are you doing here?”  
“I’ve got hand it to you, when I was gone, things went to he-”  
The toilet was heard flushing and a kid from the chess club walked out. Peter and Happy stood there quietly while he washed and dried his hands. The kid left   
A little confused. Peter looked back at Happy. “So, how long have you been here?”  
“Long enough for it to be awkward. Boss wants to see you.”  
Peter pointed to one of the stalls and whispered. “Is he here too?”  
“In the toilet? No, he’s upstate.” Happy started to exit.  
“Upstate, like upstate, upstate?” Peter was a little surprised by this all.  
“Yeah let’s go.”  
Peter followed Happy out to the car and got into the passenger seat. “He could’ve texted me.” Peter mumbled.   
Happy sat down next to him. “Well, it’s way too far for you to swing and the last time you drove a vehicle you almost killed yourself, so I think it’s fair to say that I will be escorting you.”  
Peter rolled his eyes and leaned on the door. “What does he want anyway?”  
“Let’s just say he is neutral. He’s going to give you a starn talking to as well as some good news.”  
Peter winced. “Is this about the whole sneaking out thing? May yelled at me for an hour when I got back. Is this why Mr. Stark hasn’t really said much to me the past 3 weeks? I thought he was just busy with everything that happened.”  
“He has been busy. That’s why he is now talking to you. He would’ve done it sooner, but he has been bombarded with paperwork and interviews since the whole ordeal.”  
Peter slumped back in his seat. “Oh, well…” He looked out his window. “I’m going to die.” He said in fear of what Tony is going to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, we only have one or two chapters left. I'm not sure how I am going to separate what's left. I really hope you liked it. Thank you so much for reading!


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